The Dominican Republic's migration landscape

The Dominican Republic is a country of both emigration and immigration. An estimated 12% of its population currently resides abroad, while immigrants constitute about 4% of the population. The country benefits from a large volume of remittances, representing around 7% of its gross domestic product and easily exceeding foreign direct investment. This chapter paints a broad picture of the Dominican Republic’s migration landscape, drawing from the literature, censuses and surveys. It gives a brief overview of the country’s history of migration and current trends: its drivers and impacts, who the immigrants and emigrants are and where they have gone, how they remit and the impacts on their household and country. Finally, it lays out the legal, policy and institutional framework relevant to migration.