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Haiti

Haiti Poverty and Equity Brief : April 2025

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Haiti has endured recurrent shocks, with the effects of natural disasters, including the 2010 earthquake and multiple hurricanes, compounded by conflict and social unrest. The lack of productive jobs and low access to basic services limit Haiti’s poverty-reduction prospects. Despite initially dropping between 2020 and 2021, the share of working-age Haitians in employment increased by 10.6 percentage points between 2020 and 2023, according to high-frequency phone survey data. However, since living standards did not increase over this period, it suggests that Haitians have been trying in vain to find livelihood activities to make ends meet, resulting in widespread in-work poverty. This situation likely worsened in 2024 as agriculture, which provides a disproportionate share of livelihoods for the poor and vulnerable, was the sector hit hardest by the drop in economic activity, with GDP in agriculture contracting by 5.6 percent. Regarding basic services, around 40.4 percent of Haitians had access to electricity in 2016, compared to the LAC average of 97.5 percent for the same year. Additionally, 74.9 percent of Haitians were using an improved water source, and 54.8 percent had an improved sanitation facility. Access to these services has likely deteriorated since then, exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis and rising insecurity.