Actually, the Dominican Republic is doing better than most regions of the world.
For example, let?s look at GDP per capita (PPP) for 2012:
Dominican Republic $9,645
Compare that to the average of:
Emerging market and developing economies (aka, the Third World) $6,680
Caribbean $7,418
Central America $6,820
North Africa $6,981
Sub-Saharan Africa $2,472
Southeast Asia $5,808
South Asia $3,555
Pacific Islands $3,186
The change in the gap of the GDP per capita (PPP) of the United States with all the countries in Latin America was as follows (for the 1980-2011 period as percentage points; negative means the gap is closing while positive means its widening):
Chile -9
Panam? -7
Rep?blica Dominicana -4
Argentina -3
Uruguay -3
Colombia -2
El Salvador +2
Ecuador +4
Hait? +4
Paraguay +4
Per? +4
Honduras +5
Bolivia +6
Brasil +6
Guatemala +8
M?xico +10
Venezuela +21
Basically, the Dominican Republic has been closing the gap with the United States at a faster rate than all Latin American countries except Panama and Chile. Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Cuba were excluded due to a lack of complete data or no data at all.
In terms of improvements in the purchasing power of the people for the 1980-2011 period, the ranking looks like this:
Chile 5.8
Panam? 5.1
Rep?blica Dominicana 4.8
Uruguay 4.4
Colombia 4.1
Estados Unidos 3.9
Argentina 3.6
El Salvador 3.5
Per? 3.3
Ecuador 3.2
Brasil 3.1
M?xico 2.9
Paraguay 2.8
Honduras 2.6
Bolivia 2.4
Guatemala 2.2
Venezuela 2.1
Hait? 1.4
Once again, the Dominican Republic?s purchasing power in 2011 was 4.8 times greater than in 1980, that registering as the greatest increase in well being among all countries in Latin America except for Panama and Chile. Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Cuba were excluded due to a lack of complete data or no data at all.
The changes in the gap between Latin American countries and developed countries as a whole, during the 1980-2011 period, was (in percentage points):
Chile -13
Panam? -7
Rep?blica Dominicana -3
Uruguay -3
Colombia -1
El Salvador +3
Hait? +5
Honduras +5
Argentina +6
Ecuador +6
Per? +6
Paraguay +7
Bolivia +8
Brasil +10
Guatemala +11
M?xico +15
Venezuela +18
Do you see a trend?
Changes in the gap with Spain during the 1980-2011 period was as follows (in percentage points):
Chile -16
Panam? -9
Rep?blica Dominicana -4
Uruguay -2
Colombia 0
El Salvador +5
Hait? +7
Ecuador +8
Honduras +8
Per? +8
Argentina +9
Paraguay +9
Bolivia +11
Brasil +13
Guatemala +14
M?xico +21
Venezuela +37
In essence, the Dominican Republic is not only one of the few countries that has actually gotten closer to the developed countries, but it has consistently been beaten by only two countries, Panama and Chile. Every other Latin American country has experienced economic growth and an increase in well being, but developed countries have grown and experienced an even larger increase, so much so that despite all the growth, most Latin American countries are falling behind, except for a small group of nations, Dominican Republic among them.
What this also means is that the Dominican Republic is one of the countries that converges the most with other Latin American countries. This is evidenced when the country?s production of the 1950s is compared with that of the early 2000s. In the former the Dominican Republic was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti was marginally better off, but by the beginning of the 21st Century, the Dominican Republic already situates itself close to the Latin American median and is the country that has increased the most positions in well being during that half century.
Had the Dominican Republic achieved the gains it has during the 1950s-2000s half century but starting at the level of development it finds itself right now, today the country would had been among the most developed in Latin America, giving Chile a run for its money. But, we started from a very low base, we simply had the worst indicators but the gains have been the greatest. Most other Latin American countries rank pretty much exactly where they did half a century ago, except for a select few, the Dominican Republic distinguishing itself from the pack.
LOL
