Haiti, the independent Caribbean's second-largest economy by size… but the poorest per person

With a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $32.1 billion in 2025, Haiti is the second-largest economy among the independent states of the Caribbean, behind the Dominican Republic ($127.9 billion). That is according to the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook database, October 2026 edition. But the ranking is driven mainly by the size of the population, and the same data show Haiti has the lowest GDP per person in the region and an economy that has been shrinking for seven years.

The IMF ranking for 2025

According to the IMF, nominal GDP in 2025, in current US dollars, among the main independent states of the region:

- Dominican Republic: $127.9 billion
- Haiti: $32.1 billion
- Guyana: $26.8 billion
- Trinidad and Tobago: $25.9 billion
- Jamaica: $22.6 billion
- Bahamas: $17.2 billion

Cuba does not appear in the IMF database, which publishes no figures for the country. Puerto Rico, whose GDP the IMF puts above the Dominican Republic's ($129.4 billion), is a US territory, not an independent state.

The World Bank, in data updated on 8 October 2026, gives very similar amounts: $32.1 billion for Haiti in 2025, $127.4 billion for the Dominican Republic, $27.1 billion for Guyana, $25.9 billion for Trinidad and Tobago and $22.7 billion for Jamaica.

A large population, the lowest income

Haiti has 12.6 million people according to the IMF (11.9 million according to the World Bank), more than the Dominican Republic (10.9 million according to the IMF) and far more than Jamaica (2.8 million), Trinidad and Tobago (1.4 million), Guyana (1 million) or the Bahamas (413,000).

Per person, the order is reversed. GDP per capita in 2025, according to the IMF:

- Bahamas: $41,728
- Guyana: $26,104
- Trinidad and Tobago: $18,068
- Dominican Republic: $11,749
- Jamaica: $8,206
- Haiti: $2,557

That is the lowest level of all the independent Caribbean states for which the IMF publishes data. GDP per person in the Dominican Republic is about 4.6 times Haiti's; in the Bahamas, about 16 times. The World Bank, which uses a smaller population figure, calculates $2,694 per person for Haiti in 2025.

Seven years of decline

Haiti's real GDP, meaning output adjusted for price increases, has fallen every year since 2019, according to the IMF: -1.7% in 2019, -3.3% in 2020, -1.8% in 2021, -1.7% in 2022, -1.9% in 2023, -4.2% in 2024 and -2.7% in 2025. The IMF projects a further -1.7% in 2026 and -0.5% in 2027. World Bank figures agree, with -2.7% for 2025.

In its report on Haiti published in May 2026 (the third review of the staff-monitored program), the IMF writes that real GDP is expected to contract "for an eighth consecutive year" in fiscal year 2026. The same report says 5.7 million people face acute food insecurity and 1.45 million people are internally displaced. It also says private-sector credit continues to decline because of the deterioration in security.

Over the same period Guyana, driven by oil, grew 19.3% in 2025 according to the IMF, and the Dominican Republic 2.1%.

Why GDP in dollars rises while the economy shrinks

Haiti's GDP in dollars went from $19.6 billion in 2023 to $25.3 billion in 2024 and then $32.1 billion in 2025, according to the IMF, even though real output fell. The gap comes from prices and the exchange rate. Average inflation was 44.1% in 2023, 25.8% in 2024 and 28.3% in 2025 according to the IMF, while the gourde "remained stable at around 130 gourdes per US dollar," the IMF's May 2026 report says. World Bank data show the average official exchange rate moving from 141 gourdes per dollar in 2023 to 130.6 in 2025.

When prices in gourdes rise sharply and the gourde does not depreciate, the value of GDP converted into dollars goes up, even if less is being produced. The IMF notes that the real exchange rate appreciated 31% during fiscal year 2025. Nominal GDP in dollars therefore measures the size of the economy at a given moment, but it does not say whether Haitians are producing or earning more.

The IMF's projections show how fragile the ranking is: for 2026, the IMF forecasts $39.4 billion for Haiti and $40.3 billion for Guyana, which would put Guyana ahead of Haiti.