Economy

Imports
$3.9 billion (2022). Refined Petroleum ($525M), Rice ($256M), Other Cotton Fabrics ($142M), Light Rubberized Knitted Fabric ($133M), and Palm Oil ($126M), importing mostly from United States ($1.2B), Dominican Republic ($1.02B), China ($625M), Indonesia ($111M), and India ($92.6M).
In 2022, Haiti was the world’s biggest importer of Other Cotton Fabrics ($142M).

Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of  age)
• 28.2% have an account with a financial institution
• 6.9% have a credit card
• 13.5% have a mobile money account

Ease of doing business
Ease of conducting business is low (rated 40.7 out of 100). Ranked 31st out of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries. Ranked 179th out of 190 countries worldwide (2023, World Bank).

Exports
$1.28 billion (2022). Knit T-shirts ($529M), Knit Sweaters ($220M), Knit Women’s Suits ($107M), Non-Knit Men’s Suits ($66.2M), and Non-Knit Men’s Shirts ($43.3M), exporting mostly to United States ($1.08B), Canada ($51M), Mexico ($29.4M), Thailand ($16.4M), and France ($15.9M).

Economic freedom
‘Mostly not free’ (rated 48.2 out of 100). Ranked 28th out of 32 Latin American countries. Ranked 155th out of 186 countries worldwide (2024, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).

Media

Media language
French

Information channels
Radio is Haiti’s key news medium. The sector is crowded, with hundreds of stations. Most of them are local, privately-owned and broadcast in Creole. Audiences for the dozens of TV stations are limited by the lack of reliable power. Most TV stations have limited capacity to produce their own programmes. Newspaper circulations are small and are impeded by affordability and low literacy. However, newspaper websites are popular among Haitians abroad. The media reflect a range of views, but the work of journalists is hampered by threats, violence and government interference, says Freedom House. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says the output of privately-owned media is strongly influenced by their owners. RSF says journalists “suffer a cruel lack of financial resources”.

The press

Le Nouvelliste – private daily
Haiti Progres – weekly

Television

Tele Caraibes – private
Radio Tele Ginen (RTG) – private
Tele Metropole – private
Television Nationale d’Haiti – government-owned

Radio

Radio Metropole – private
Radio Ginen -private
Radio Signal FM – private
Radio Caraibes FM – private
Radio Kiskeya – private
Radio Lumiere – Protestant
Radio Vision 2000 – private

News agency

Agence Haitienne de Presse
Haiti Libre – news site

Internet Data

Internet users
38.9% penetration, 4.59 million

Share of web traffic by device
85.72% mobile phones, 11.60% computers (laptops and desktops), 2.68% tablet devices.

Median speed of mobile Internet connection
8.43 Mbps

Median speed of fixed Internet connection
32.36 Mbps

Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 82.7%

Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 85%

Most popular web search engines
Google (98.45%), Bing (1.22%), Yahoo! (0.28%), DuckduckGo (0.02%), Ecosia (0.01%), other (0.02%).

Most used social media
Facebook (83.93%), Twitter (8.48%), Instagram (3.73%), Pinterest (2.35%), YouTube (1.41%), Tumblr (0.04%), LinkedIn (0.04%), other (0.02%).

Social statistics

Life expectancy
63 yrs (2021)

Gender
Haitian culture is traditionally male-dominated.  Men and women in Haiti in general have traditional gender roles. In rural areas, women are responsible for child rearing, cooking, cleaning and going to the market to either buy or sell goods. Men spend most of their time working the family farm. Normally, men will be the leaders in the community and women still tend to be submissive to their husbands.

Class
The class system in Haiti is derived from one’s wealth and income, one’s occupation and level of education. In addition, social status is a key factor. Who you know, particularly senior members of government and politicians, is important. Haiti’s upper class is made up of a very small minority but they control a great part of the wealth of the nation. The elite or upper class also include Haitians of Lebanese, Syrian and Indian descent who have become financially successful in the country. Increased access to education has helped certain individuals to rise into the ranks of the upper class. The middle class can include public servants, moderately successful business operators (including agricultural producers), consultants, technical specialists, etc. They typically are well educated, speak French (and English) and live in urban areas. People in the lower class, or proletariat, are socially very mixed (poor peasants, poor urban residents) and they have little class awareness. They can be domestic workers, labourers, unemployed or chronically underemployed masses. They often live in urban or hinterland slums. This class also includes a significant number of young Haitians. Lower-class parents still make a real effort to keep their children in school throughout the primary cycle.

Current health expenditure
3.22% of GDP

CO2 emissions
0.3 metric tons per capita

Religion
Haiti is a primarily Christian country, with the majority adhering to Roman Catholicism followed by Protestantism. Voodoo is also widely practiced. Syncretism (the merging of religion and traditional beliefs/practices) is very common. There are small numbers of Muslims and Hindus in Haiti.

Ethnicity
The Haitian language envisages only two ethnic classifications: “Haitians and blanc” However, “blanc” (a French word that literally translates as “white”) in this terminology does not necessarily refer solely to people of Caucasian descent. Rather, the term “blanc” is used universally for anyone who is not Haitian. Foreigners are given respect in most situations, but the term “blanc” can also be used as a form of mockery especially when one has little understanding of Haitian culture and language. Another significant population group in Haiti’s capital is essentially Haitian, but has strong roots in Middle Eastern countries. Syrians, along with “light-skinned” Haitians (called “grimmel” in Creole), hold a lot of business and land in Haiti’s capital and form a significant part of Haiti’s middle class. Another separate class of Haitians are the diaspora, Haitians who live abroad, usually in the U.S. or major cities in Canada and have attained foreign citizenship. All of these populations in Haiti are part of the wealthier classes and are generally held in higher esteem and carry most of the country’s political power. The general population that makes up the other 90-95% should certainly not be left out of discussion. If one is visiting Haiti outside of the capital city, these are the people who typify true Haitian culture.

Corruption perceptions Index
Haiti scored 17 out of 100, ranked 171 out 180 countries worldwide.