The Dominican Republic’s November 2022 census counted 10,760,028 people, which is 1,314,747 more than the 2010 count of 9,445,281, an increase of 13.9% in just under twelve years. That works out to growth of roughly 1.1% a year. Yet the headline figure combines three separate movements that point in different directions. On the United Nations’ accounting, births exceed deaths by enough to add about 1.3% a year, while net migration subtracts about 0.3%. At the same time, an estimated 535,000 Haitian migrants live in the country, and between 2.5 million and 2.7 million people of Dominican birth or ancestry live in the United States.
Population growth in the Dominican Republic is therefore not a story about fertility alone. It is the net result of natural increase, immigration, emigration and a fast-changing geography of cities and tourist coasts. This article separates those flows, compares census figures with UN estimates, and shows how far the numbers can move depending on whether a source counts people, migrants, citizens or descendants.
Dominican Republic Population at a Glance
| Metric | Figure | Year / Source |
|---|---|---|
| Census population | 10,760,028 (first release); 10,771,504 (later table) | November 2022, ONE |
| Census change since 2010 | +1,314,747 (+13.9%) | 2010 to 2022, ONE |
| UN population estimate | 11,609,500 | 2026, UN WPP 2024 |
| UN growth rate | +0.75% | 2026 |
| Land area | ~48,320 to 48,670 km² | UN / national sources |
| Density | ~240 per km² | 2026, UN-based |
| Median age | ~27 to 28 years | 2022 to 2025, UN-based |
| Female share of population | 50.5% | 2022 Census |
| Urban share | 74.3% (2010 census); 86.9% (UN-based, 2026) | Different definitions |
| Most populous province | Santo Domingo, 2,769,589 | 2022 Census |
| Remittances | US$11.9 billion (9.7% of GDP) | 2025 |
The census and UN figures differ. The UN’s mid-2022 estimate was 11,230,734, about 459,000 or roughly 4% above the census count of 10,771,504. Part of the difference reflects the UN’s modeling of the foreign-born population and undercount adjustments, and part reflects problems with the census itself: Dominican press coverage reported that large areas of some urban zones were not counted at all, and that enumeration was extended past its original November 23 end date because of delays. The first release did not include fertility, mortality or disability data.
How the Dominican Republic’s Population Has Changed
The Dominican Republic has grown about 4.9 times since 1950, from 2.38 million, and 35% since 2000. Growth has slowed from the very high rates of the mid-20th century and is projected to fade further.
| Year | Population | Change From Previous Point | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 2,379,894 | n/a | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 8,584,190 | +261% | UN estimate |
| 2010 | 9,445,281 | +10.0% | Census |
| 2022 | 10,760,028 | +13.9% | Census |
| 2026 | 11,609,500 | +7.9% | UN estimate |
| 2050 | 12,996,293 | +11.9% | UN projection |
| 2100 | 11,674,910 | –10.2% | UN projection |
The UN’s mid-range projection implies average growth of about 0.5% a year to 2050 and then a decline of about 0.2% a year to 2100, which leaves the 2100 population only 0.6% above today’s. In other words, the country is expected to peak around mid-century and then shrink slowly.
Fertility and Natural Population Growth
Fertility is where sources disagree most. UN-based figures put the total fertility rate at 2.27 in 2022 and roughly 2.4 in a 2025 compilation, while a 2023 estimate cited on Wikipedia gives 1.61. A gap of that size changes the classification of the country from above replacement (2.1) to well below it, and should be checked against the national demographic and health survey before it is cited as fact.
What the UN data do show clearly is the structure of growth. In its 2022 estimate, the population rose by 111,217 people (1.01%), even though net migration was negative 35,153.
| Component, 2022 (UN-based) | People | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Total yearly change | +111,217 | +1.01% |
| Net migration | –35,153 | –0.31% |
| Natural increase (derived: births minus deaths) | ~+146,370 | ~+1.30% |
Births are therefore doing all of the work, and migration, at least in the UN’s model, is a drag. That conclusion needs a caveat, covered below, because the model nets Dominican emigration against inward migration and may not capture the scale of the foreign-born population.
Immigration to the Dominican Republic
Immigration is the least precisely measured part of the picture. The government’s 2017 National Immigrant Survey (ENI) found a population of 10,189,895, of which 847,979 people, 8.3%, were immigrants or descendants of recent immigrants, and 9,341,916 were classified as ethnic Dominicans. Haitians are the largest group by a wide margin, with Venezuelans a distant second.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Immigrants and descendants of recent immigrants | 847,979 (8.3%) | 2017 ENI |
| Haitian-born residents | 458,233 | 2013 national estimate |
| Haitian migrants, UN-based estimate | ~535,000 | Latest UN data, via MPI |
| Born abroad, 2010 census | ~4.2% of population | 2010 Census |
| Haitians born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian parents | 104,531 | 2013 estimate |
These measures describe different things. The 2010 census shows about 4.2% of residents born abroad, the 2017 survey counts 8.3% including descendants, and the UN counts migrants by country of birth. There are no official figures for how many Haitians live in the country irregularly, and estimates have reached as high as 1 million. Citizenship adds a further layer: a 2013 constitutional court ruling stripped Dominican nationality from an estimated 210,000 people of Haitian descent born since 1929, so counts of citizens, foreign-born residents and descendants cannot be added together.
Enforcement also moves the numbers. Dominican authorities deported more than 170,000 Haitians in 2022 alone, according to Migration Policy Institute reporting, a flow that does not show up cleanly in stock figures.
Emigration and the Dominican Diaspora
The diaspora is concentrated in the United States. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that about 2.7 million U.S. residents were born in the Dominican Republic or reported Dominican ancestry in 2022, and a 2024 estimate puts the figure at about 2.5 million. The Dominican-born population in the United States grew by 401,000 people, or 46%, between 2010 and 2022. Dominican immigrants in the United States have a median age of 46, similar to the 47 for all immigrants, and about 75% are between 18 and 64.
Remittances are the economic link. The Dominican Republic received US$11.9 billion in 2025, up 9.3%, the largest total in the Caribbean, and equal to about 9.7% of GDP. That share is below Haiti’s (about 17%) and Jamaica’s (16.2%), which shows an economy where the diaspora matters but is not the central pillar.
Population Distribution and Urbanization
Population is concentrated around the capital and in a few growth corridors. Santo Domingo province had 2,769,589 residents at the 2022 census, about 26% of the country, and it added about 400,000 people, or 16.65%, since 2010. Its population is 81.6% urban.
| Area | 2022 Result | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Santo Domingo province | 2,769,589 (25.7% of national total) | Most populous province; +16.65% since 2010 |
| La Altagracia (Punta Cana area) | +63.27% since 2010 | Fastest growth among major provinces reported |
| National District | Low growth | Housing costs push residents to nearby provinces |
| Santiago, San Cristóbal | Among top five provinces | Second and fourth by population |
| Urban agglomeration of Santo Domingo | ~4.6 million | 2025, UN-based estimate |
The 63% jump in La Altagracia ties population growth to the tourism economy. The Dominican press attributed the slower growth of the National District to high housing costs in the capital, which pushed residents to the neighboring provinces of Santo Domingo and San Cristóbal. The urban share varies by definition: the 2010 census recorded 74.3% urban (7,013,575 people), while UN-based estimates now put it at 86.9%, so the two should not be compared directly. Likewise, the 2.77 million in the province and the 4.6 million in the wider urban agglomeration describe different boundaries.
Age Structure and the Demographic Transition
The age structure has been maturing steadily. In 2010, 31.2% of the population was under 15 and 6.0% was 65 or older. By 2015 those figures were 30.0% and 6.7%. The UN-based median age was 27.3 in 2022 and is about 28 now, which is about four years older than Haiti’s. The 2022 census recorded 50.5% women and 49.5% men.
| Indicator | 2010 | 2015 | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Share under 15 | 31.2% | 30.0% | n/a (not retrieved for 2022) |
| Share 65 and over | 6.0% | 6.7% | n/a (not retrieved for 2022) |
| Median age | n/a | n/a | ~27.3 (2022, UN-based) |
The country is in the middle of a demographic transition: the youth share is falling and the older share is rising, but the working-age population is still expanding, which gives the economy a window in which dependency is relatively low. That window narrows as fertility declines toward replacement.
Economic Effects of Migration and Population Growth
The data available to this article support a limited set of conclusions. Remittances of US$11.9 billion in 2025 are equal to about 9.7% of GDP. Tourism is a large and fast-growing part of the economy, with a secondary-source estimate of 11.4 million arrivals and about US$10.8 billion in receipts, and the surge in La Altagracia’s population shows where its labor demand is.
Immigrant labor and the emigrant diaspora both affect wages and household income, but this article does not quantify those effects, since no sourced figures on sectoral employment by origin were retrieved. The reliable point is that both inward and outward migration are large relative to the population, and that official data capture them imperfectly.
Future Population Outlook
The UN’s mid-range projection reaches 12,996,293 in 2050, an increase of 11.9% from 2026, and 11,674,910 in 2100. These projections assume continuing fertility decline and net emigration that is slightly negative, which is the model’s baseline for the 2022 estimate of negative 35,153. If actual immigration is larger than the model assumes, or if Haitian migration changes sharply in response to the crisis next door, the path could differ. The gap with Haiti is projected to widen: Haiti’s 2050 population of 14.71 million would be about 13% larger than the Dominican Republic’s 12.99 million, up from a lead of about 4% today.
Key Findings
- The 2022 census counted 10,760,028 people, up 1,314,747 (13.9%) from 2010, an increase of about 1.1% a year.
- In the UN’s 2022 estimate, natural increase added about 1.3% a year and net migration subtracted about 0.3%.
- The UN’s mid-2022 estimate was about 4% above the census count, a gap that reflects modeling and census coverage issues.
- The 2017 ENI counted 847,979 immigrants and descendants of recent immigrants, 8.3% of the population, while UN-based estimates put Haitian migrants at about 535,000.
- About 2.5 to 2.7 million people of Dominican birth or ancestry live in the United States, and remittances reached US$11.9 billion (9.7% of GDP) in 2025.
- Santo Domingo province holds about 26% of the population, and La Altagracia, the Punta Cana area, grew 63% in twelve years.
- The UN projects a peak of about 13.0 million in 2050 followed by a slow decline to 11.7 million by 2100.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is the Dominican Republic population?
The November 2022 census counted 10,760,028 people. The UN estimates 11,609,500 for 2026.
2. Why is the Dominican Republic population growing?
Births exceed deaths by enough to add about 1.3% a year in the UN’s 2022 estimate. Net migration reduces that to about 1% a year.
3. How does migration affect population growth?
In the UN’s model, net migration is negative at about 0.3% a year, so emigration outweighs immigration. The country also hosts an estimated 535,000 Haitian migrants, so the stock of immigrants is large even where net flows are small.
4. Where does most of the population live?
Santo Domingo province is the largest, with 2,769,589 residents, about 26% of the total. Santiago, the National District, San Cristóbal and La Altagracia complete the top five.
5. What is the population outlook?
The UN projects 12.99 million in 2050 and 11.67 million in 2100, so growth is expected to peak around mid-century.
6. Why do census and UN figures differ?
The UN’s 2022 estimate (11.23 million) exceeded the census (10.77 million) by about 4%. The UN models migrants and undercount, and the census had coverage problems in some urban areas.
7. How many Haitians live in the Dominican Republic?
There are no official figures for irregular residents. A 2013 estimate counted 458,233 Haitian-born residents, and UN-based data cite about 535,000.
8. How big is the Dominican diaspora?
About 2.5 to 2.7 million people of Dominican birth or ancestry lived in the United States in 2022 to 2024. Dominican-born residents there grew 46% between 2010 and 2022.
9. What is the Dominican Republic’s fertility rate?
Estimates range from 1.61 to about 2.4 children per woman depending on the source and year. The UN-based figure was 2.27 in 2022.
10. How urban is the Dominican Republic?
The 2010 census recorded 74.3% urban, while UN-based estimates put the share at 86.9% in 2026. The difference reflects changing definitions as well as urban growth.
Sources
- Oficina Nacional de Estadística (ONE), 2022 National Population and Housing Census, first results released August 2023; 2010 Census
- United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2024 Revision (via Worldometer and StatisticsTimes)
- ONE, 2017 National Immigrant Survey (ENI-2017), as summarized in national and encyclopedic sources
- Migration Policy Institute, Immigrants from the Dominican Republic in the United States; Haitians Flee a Nation Nearing Collapse
- IDB and IFAD remittance reporting as summarized by La Caribeña News (2026); World Bank remittance data
- DR1.com, “First numbers from the 2022 National Census” (August 2023)
- Hope Research Group, Caribbean Economic Data 2026 (tourism figures, secondary source)
- FindEasy, Caribbean Population 2025 (UN-based fertility and median age compilation)
- Wikipedia, Demographics of the Dominican Republic, 2022 Dominican Republic census, Haitians in the Dominican Republic and Dominican Americans (cross-referenced to national and UN sources)
