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Dominican Republic

Mundo's Freedom Rating (0-10)

Mundo's freedom rating of a country is essentially a freedom index whereby our team of specialists rates a combination of freedoms which include freedom from violence and personal attacks, financial freedom from high taxes and other government levies, and business freedom from government interference.

Political Stability: 9

In the last 50 years, the Dominican Republic has been governed by democratic leaders that respect private investment and separation of powers, something uncommon in Latin America, a region characterized by populism and instability.

Since 2020, the Dominican Republic is governed by Luis Abinader, a 53-year old businessman who promised to drive the country out of the severe economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. His promises: foreign direct investment and employment to all Dominicans.

However, the Dominican Republic is still a developing country with lots of problems like corruption, inequality and poverty. The COVID-19 pandemic has aggravated some of these problems, possibly making them a source of instability in the country.

Solving these problems needs structural reforms that are hard to accomplish, especially in the post COVID-19 era, in which governments will lack resources to satisfy a growing social unrest.

Personal Safety: 10

Insecurity has been a chronic problem in Latin America in the last decades and the Dominican Republic hasn’t been the exception. However, authorities have been fighting hard to resolve this issue and nowadays many tourism areas like Punta Cana are among the most secure parts of the country, thanks to “Politur” a police force distributed all over the coast to protect tourists.

Protected areas with security personnel are quite common even for low cost residential areas. Nevertheless, we recommend you to be cautious and not show jewels or money on crowded streets or zones in Santo Domingo, avoid walking around late at night and if you go to a bar, take a taxi when you leave.

Lifestyle: 10

This is our favourite part of the Dominican Republic. Imagine hundreds of kilometers of sandy beaches where you can enjoy drinking coconut juice for breakfast and passion fruit juice for lunch, just to mention some of the delicacies that this paradisiac island has to offer to foreigners.

The Domican Republic is a top destination. A country where thousands of Americans, Europeans and Asians come together to enjoy white sandy beaches and kitesurfing in Punta Cana.

Go sunbathe in one of the 1602 sq kilometers in DR, climb the tallest mountain in the Caribbean or visit the colonial downtown of Santo Domingo. All this is waiting for you on the Dominican Republic.

Taxation: 8

The Dominican Republic is a great country for tax optimization thanks to its territorial tax regime. That means that any income coming from foreign sources is tax free, so it's possible to live on a beach in Punta Cana while paying zero taxes!

However, any income coming from Dominican sources is taxable, no matter if the individual or company is Dominican, resident or non-resident. The income tax rate is from 0 to 25%, depending on your income and the corporate tax is a flat rate of 27%. Also, Income up to $ 10,000 per month in the Dominican Republic is tax-free.

Furthermore, the Dominican Republic has created tax incentives in the last years in order to increase the flow of foreign investment towards the country. This Caribbean country offers extraordinary incentives for tax optimization while not being under deep surveillance by the OECD because it is not listed as a tax haven.

Banks generally support foreign investments and are quite loyal to the receipt of funds from offshore zones. This is a huge advantage compared to, for example, the EU countries, where transfers from offshore companies can simply be blocked.

Investment Potential: 10

Investment Potential in the Dominican Republic is nearly infinite. The tourism industry brings millions of vacationers that consume energy, food and other assets, propping up other economic sectors like energy, telecommunications and the real estate market.

Also, the residency by investment program has driven a great amount of FDI to the country from the United States, Europe and more recently, China. Investors come to Dominican Republic looking for inexpensive properties and to satisfy the growing demand for goods or services coming from tourists.

The COVID pandemic hitted hard on the Dominican economy. But after the storm comes the calm, so when the pandemic is over most of us will be crazy to get on a plane to Santo Domingo for a large vacation. After crashing about 15% in 2020, the GDP on DR is expected to grow by 10% in 2021, marking the beginning of what we expect to be a sustained economic recuperation.