Preliminary IMAE data show the Dominican economy expanding 4.5% year on year on average over January–August 2026, led in August by construction, financial services and tourism.
According to elDinero, preliminary figures from the monthly economic activity indicator (IMAE) show average cumulative growth of 4.5% in January–August 2026, up from 2.3% in the same period a year earlier. In August alone the indicator rose 3.8% year on year. Construction, the sector most relevant to property buyers, expanded 7.9% year on year in August. The report attributes this mainly to private residential and non-residential investment projects and to civil engineering works tied to government capital spending. It also says institutional changes meant to speed up and make more transparent the approval of new construction projects have had a positive effect. Credit to the construction sector grew 16.2% year on year by the end of August, equal to more than RD$26 billion in additional lending compared with a year earlier. Tourism also held up: 725,481 tourists arrived in August, 2.6% more than in August 2025, and international visitor arrivals through airports reached 6,610,506 in January–August, up 8.6%. Financial intermediation and insurance grew 9.4%, while nominal credit to the private sector rose 7.6%, or RD$187 billion more than in August 2025. Mining fell 14.6% because of scheduled maintenance at the country's main gold plant, and agriculture fell 1.4%, with drought cited as a major factor. The report notes that the January–August result is in line with the roughly 4.5% growth projected in the macroeconomic framework agreed by the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Central Bank. If that materializes, it would be well above the 2.4% average the IMF estimates for Latin America this year. This is a description of published statistics, not investment advice.