SANTO DOMINGO-The Industrial Confidence Index (ICI)continued to rise slightly, going from 55.7 in the last quarter of 2024, to 56.9 in the January-March quarter of 2025 and 57.4 in the second quarter of this year (April-June).
However, the Business Climate Index (BCI) declined slightly, going from 55.7 in the first quarter of this year (January-March 2025) to 55.5 in the second quarter (April-June), but remaining above the 50-point mark.
These indices are measured by the Industrial Situation Survey (ECI), prepared by the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD), which, through its calculation, summarizes the result of the performance and perceptions of entrepreneurs for a given period.
Both indices reflect different factors and the business environment in a given period.
The Industrial Confidence Index measures perceptions of sales, production, and inventory levels in their industries, thus indicating the likelihood of them increasing or decreasing production in the short term. Its performance reflects a continued recovery following a decline in the last quarter of last year.
Sales also fell short of expectations. While business leaders' projections for the end of the January-March 2025 quarter were 26.9, actual sales in the second quarter of this year reached only 13.0 .
Regarding the number of companies that dedicated part of their production to exports, this percentage rose from 76% (January-March) to 78% (April-June 2025). This does not reveal information about the total consolidated amount of these exports, but only about the number of companies.
90% of the companies surveyed stated that they made investments to increase their installed production capacity. It is noteworthy that 38% of the companies made investments exceeding US$500,000.
The three main areas of investment for companies were: "machinery" with 29%; "technology" with 20% and "plant and/or equipment", with 18%, for a total of 67% in these three areas.
Regarding investment projections, 82% of companies state that they will make some investment in the next quarter (July-September 2025), with 24% saying they will make investments in "Machinery"; 18% in "plant and/or equipment" and 18% in "technology".
The variables of this indicator show a decrease in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of this year.
The variable "Dominican economy" went from 24.0 to 1; the variable "international economy" went from 15.0 to -3.0; the variable "production sector" went from 27.0 to 12.0. "Climate for investment" decreased from 34.0 to 15.3, and "company" went from 39.0 to 30.0.
Another aspect considered was the outlook for the next quarter (July-September 2025). Four of the five variables are expected to decline, while the "international economy" variable is projected to rise.
Regarding the general perception of industrialists for the next quarter (July-September), the perception is generally good to fair across the various variables and for the largest number of companies.
Source: AIRD.
