Economic Risks Rise: Haiti’s Road to Recovery Runs Through Jobs, Farms and Trade

Released on Monday, the report examines Haiti’s economic performance and outlook after consecutive years of hardship and two decades of constrained growth.

Haiti's economic struggles have narrowed opportunities for families and businesses, leaving the country facing difficult questions about how to restore growth and create dependable jobs. A new World Bank Group report, Haiti – Pathways to Growth Amid Rising Risks, identifies a foundation for recovery in the country's young workforce, proximity to major markets and agricultural potential, linking progress to stronger institutions and action on deep structural problems.

Released on Monday, the report examines Haiti's economic performance and outlook after consecutive years of hardship and two decades of constrained growth. Its message is that the country has valuable resources to build upon, but turning those strengths into better livelihoods requires changes that help people find work, businesses reach customers, and farmers secure financing.

A Young Workforce and Farms Hungry for Investment

Haiti's young, growing and competitive workforce represents an important economic strength, particularly given the country's location near major markets. These advantages offer a foundation for expanding production and employment, provided the barriers preventing businesses from investing and trading are addressed. For people seeking a reliable income, the value of those strengths will depend on whether they translate into accessible jobs and lasting opportunities.

Agriculture brings the gap between potential and support into sharp focus: the sector employs nearly half of Haiti's working population but receives less than 1 percent of formal credit. The report highlights cocoa, vetiver, mangoes and coffee as promising high-value export crops, pointing to opportunities for rural producers in international markets. Such limited access to financing leaves a major source of employment without the financial support its economic importance would suggest.

Jobs, Displacement and Household Incomes Under Pressure

The report identifies four urgent challenges for Haiti's recovery: creating jobs that support economic growth and security, managing the return of internally displaced people, reducing exposure to fluctuations in remittances and renewing and broadening access to trade markets. Internally displaced people are estimated to represent around 12 percent of the population, making their return a major national concern with significant implications for livelihoods and recovery.

Anne-Lucie Lefebvre, the World Bank's Country Manager for Haiti, described stability as a prerequisite for economic recovery and called for policies that address employment, migration, unpredictable remittance flows and export access at the same time. Her remarks underline the need to address immediate pressures alongside the conditions for growth, with the World Bank Group ready to help mobilize additional resources, deepen international partnerships and support reforms that strengthen institutions.

Recovery Needs Practical Investment and a Reconnected Capital

Bernard James Haven, the World Bank's Senior Economist for Haiti, outlined a recovery approach combining economic management, governance reforms and targeted investment. He called for macroeconomic, public finance and institutional reforms capable of producing results under any security scenario, alongside an investment programme for the Northern and Southern corridors with clearly calculated costs that can move into implementation immediately.

Reconnecting the capital remains the most difficult task and the strongest constraint on growth in the short term, according to Haven. The report presents recovery as a demanding process requiring several connected actions: stronger institutions, workable investment plans, better access to markets and employment opportunities that reach the population. Haiti's workforce and agricultural resources provide reasons for confidence, with their contribution to recovery depending on concrete decisions that turn economic potential into everyday opportunity.