Overview:
The workplace of Haiti’s Basic Administration of Customs introduced it collected about $102 million in December 2025, the best month-to-month complete for the reason that establishment’s creation. Officers credit score improved inside group, sooner clearance occasions and modernized monitoring techniques, even because the nation grapples with gang violence, declining imports and a seventh consecutive 12 months of financial contraction. The efficiency comes as transition authorities intensify anti-gang operations and put together for elections anticipated later this fall.
PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s Basic Administration of Customs (AGD) closed 2025 with a record-breaking efficiency, gathering roughly $102 million in December alone, the best month-to-month complete for the reason that establishment’s creation, officers introduced throughout a latest press briefing in Pétion-Ville.
The milestone got here regardless of a deteriorating safety setting, declining import volumes and a seventh consecutive 12 months of financial contraction, in response to the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics (IHSI).
“That is the best quantity ever collected by Haitian customs in a single month since its creation,” mentioned Reginald Sévère, director of authorized affairs on the AGD. “The efficiency is much more exceptional provided that it was achieved in a context of declining import volumes.”
“The efficiency is much more exceptional provided that it was achieved in a context of declining import volumes.”
Reginald Sévère, Director of Authorized Affairs on the AGD
Customs officers mentioned on the Jan. 7 press briefing that December 2025 collections barely exceeded the roughly $101 million recorded in December 2024, up about $1.1 million 12 months over 12 months.
Income progress amid insecurity
Whereas the December determine set a report, officers described it as a part of a broader upward pattern in month-to-month collections all through fiscal 12 months 2024–2025. That progress unfolded towards a backdrop of widespread gang violence, extortion alongside key transport corridors, disruptions to provide chains and the closure of a number of ports and border crossings positioned in areas beneath gang management.
The customs company’s resilience mirrors broader efforts by Haiti’s transition authorities, who since late 2024 have intensified police operations focusing on highly effective gangs controlling massive swaths of Port-au-Prince. These operations, usually supported by the Kenya-led Multinational Safety Mission (MSS) — now changed into the Gang Suppression Drive (GSF) — goal to revive entry to crucial infrastructure and stabilize state revenues as officers work towards elections anticipated later this fall.
Supply: Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics.
For the 2025–2026 fiscal 12 months, which started Oct. 1, officers mentioned the company is sustaining that momentum regardless of persistent instability.
Sévère emphasised that the income positive aspects weren’t pushed by harsher penalties on importers. As a substitute, he mentioned, the company targeted on inside reforms, together with improved tax administration, tighter oversight of customs workplaces and upgraded monitoring and intelligence techniques.
These measures decreased common clearance occasions from 21 days to a most of three days, officers mentioned.
On the identical time, fines imposed on importers declined. In December 2025, penalties totaled about $638,000, down from roughly $892,000 throughout the identical month a 12 months earlier.
Financial contraction continues amid rising poverty and the safety crucial
Customs officers acknowledged that the company’s efficiency contrasts sharply with broader financial traits. Import volumes fell by about 6% in December 2025, dropping from roughly 364 million metric tons in December 2024 to about 359 million metric tons a 12 months later.
The overall worth of imports, nonetheless, edged as much as roughly $1.62 billion in 2025, in contrast with $1.60 billion in 2024. Exports continued to say no, falling to about $211 million final 12 months from roughly $215 million the 12 months earlier than.
These shifts weren’t sufficient to reverse Haiti’s extended downturn. IHSI estimates that gross home product (GDP) fell to about $4.25 billion in 2025, down from roughly $4.37 billion in 2024, marking the nation’s seventh consecutive 12 months of financial contraction.
“All main sectors of the financial system had been affected,” IHSI analysts mentioned, citing continued declines in agriculture, manufacturing and providers.
In keeping with the general public information company, the prolonged recession has translated into worsening residing situations, fewer jobs, decrease incomes and an erosion of family buying energy amid persistently excessive inflation.
“Clearly, all of this results in a rise in poverty,” analysts mentioned, underscoring that restoring safety stays crucial.
They warned that any significant return to financial progress in 2026 will rely largely on whether or not authorities can curb gang violence, reopen commerce routes and stabilize political establishments — situations broadly seen as conditions for credible elections and long-term restoration.
As Haiti’s transition leaders push forward with anti-gang operations and electoral preparations, December’s customs windfall provides a uncommon vivid spot — and a reminder of what stays at stake.