The Dominican Republic is the largest economy in the Central American and Caribbean region. It is a lower middle-income developing country primarily dependent on natural resources and government services. Although the service sector has recently overtaken agriculture as the leading employer of Dominicans (due principally to growth in tourism and Free Trade Zones), agriculture remains the most important sector in terms of domestic consumption and is in second place, behind mining, in terms of export earnings. Free Trade Zone earnings and tourism are the fastest-growing export sectors. Real estate tourism alone accounted for $1.5 billion in earnings for 2007. Remittances from Dominicans living abroad are estimated to be more than $2 billion dollars per year.

According to the 2005 Annual Report of the United Nations Subcommittee on Human Development in the Dominican Republic, the country is ranked #71 in the world for resource availability, #79 for human development, and #14 in the world for resource mismanagement.

The Dominican Republic has become a trans-shipment point for South American drugs to Europe as well as the United States and Canada. Tourism is fueling the Dominican Republic's economic growth. For example, the contribution of travel and tourism to employment is expected to rise from 550,000 jobs in 2008 — 14.4% of total employment or 1 in every 6.9 jobs — to 743,000 jobs — 14.2% of total employment or 1 in every 7.1 jobs by 2018. The Dominican peso (DOP) is the national currency.

In 2007 the Dominican Republic had a birth rate of 22.91 per 1000, and a death rate of 5.32 per 1000. Dengue and malaria are endemic to the country. There is currently a mission based in the United States to combat the AIDS rate in the Dominican Republic.