Haiti: Economic Outline

Economic Indicators

The Haitian economy, essentially based on the agriculture, was strongly affected by a series of shocks (food crisis, hurricanes in 2008 which destroyed 60% of the harvest and infrastructures, global economic crisis), nevertheless, it managed to record a positive growth of 2.9% in 2009. However, the earthquake that hit the island in January 2010 devastated the country: the economic and financial losses are estimated to reach USD 10 billion (which means 120% of GDP). Nevertheless, the major economic balances were able to uphold due to a stabilization program which was established since 2005 and also thanks to a massive international aid.

The year 2011 was marked by a chaotic election process and a huge cholera epidemic which strongly obstructed the reconstruction of the country. The political problems created a delay on the payments of international aid of which the Haitian economy strongly depends. Haiti's creditors wiped off more than USD 1 billion of debt, but less than half of the amounts promised for the reconstruction were actually delivered. That is why this reconstruction is the priority of the government. The action plan for recovery and national development has placed forward the creation of decentralized poles of economic growth, reduction of the vulnerability to natural catastrophes, improvement on the access to basic social services and the fortification of institutions. Recently, the president Martelly created a fund financed by new taxes on the transfers of funds and telephone calls with the purpose of financing a free educational program.

The economic growth in Haiti is mainly supported by the transfers of funds from the diaspora (very large in the United States). Inflation has risen to 9%, mainly due to the increase in energy and food prices. The poor condition of its infrastructures, drug trafficking, organized crime, social unrest and large scale deforestation are the main barriers to the country's economic growth.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere: more than 80% of its population lives below the poverty line, two-thirds of the population are affected by unemployment or under-employment and more than one Haitian in four is malnourished.

Main Indicators	2009	2010	2011	2012 (e)	2013 (e)
GDP (billions USD)	6.55	6.58	7.40e	8.32	9.23
GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change)	2.9	-5.4e	6.1	7.5	6.9
GDP per Capita (USD)	660	667	739	819	895
General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP)	27.7e	17.1e	12.6	19.0	24.2
Inflation Rate (%)	3.4e	4.1	7.3e	8.0	5.7
Current Account (billions USD)	-0.23	-0.16	-0.20	-0.49	-0.51
Current Account (in % of GDP)	-3.5e	-2.4	-2.6	-5.5	-

Source: IMF - World Economic Outlook Database - Last Available Data.

Note: (e) Estimated Data

Monetary Indicators	2008	2009	2010
Foreign Debt (million USD)	1,946	1,244	-
Haitian Gourde (HTG) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 USD	39.11	41.20	39.80

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Find out all the exchange rates daily on our service Currency convertor.

Main Sectors of Industry

Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector	Agriculture	Industry	Services
Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment)	-	-	-
Value Added (in % of GDP)	-	-	-
Value Added (Annual % Change)	5.2	4.1	1.4

Source: World Bank - Last Available Data.

Socio-Demographic Indicators	2010
Unemployment Rate (%)	40.6

Source: CIA - The world factbook - Last Available Data

Learn more about Market Analyses about Haiti on Globaltrade.net, the Directory for International Trade Service Providers.

The Active Population in Figures

	2010
Labor Force	4,810,000

Source: CIA - The world factbook

	2009	2010
Total activity rate	-	69.90%
Men activity rate	82.90%	-
Women activity rate	57.50%	-

Source: UN - United Nations

Indicator of Economic Freedom

Score:: 52.1/100
Position:: Mostly unfree
World Rank:: 128/179
Regional Rank:: 20/26

Distribution of Economic freedom in the world
Source: 2011 Index of Economic freedom, Heritage Foundation

Note: The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labor freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.

Country Risk

See the Country Risk Analysis Provided By Ducroire.

Indicator of Political Freedom

Ranking:: Partly Free
Political Freedom:: 4/7
Civil Liberties:: 5/7

Map of freedom 2010
Source: Freedom House

Note: The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

World Rank:: 52/179
Evolution:: 4 places up compared to 2010

Source: Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2011, Reporters Without Borders

Note: The world rankings, published annually, measures the violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position is assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire sent to partner organizations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and activists of human rights, including the main criteria - 44 in total - to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

Sources of General Economic Information

Main Online Newspapers and Portals: Haiti Newspapers and News Sites
Haiti News
Haiti Newspapers online

Useful Resources: National Bank

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