Haiti’s customs collect $102M in tax revenue in just one month, officials say

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Haiti’s General Administration of Customs (AGD) closed 2025 with a record-breaking performance, collecting approximately $102 million in December alone, the highest monthly total since the institution’s creation, officials announced during a recent press briefing in Pétion-Ville.

The milestone came despite a deteriorating security environment, declining import volumes and a seventh consecutive year of economic contraction, according to the Haitian Institute of Statistics and Informatics (IHSI).

“This is the highest amount ever collected by Haitian customs in a single month since its creation,” said Reginald Sévère, director of legal affairs at the AGD. “The performance is even more remarkable given that it was achieved in a context of declining import volumes.”

Customs officials said at the Jan. 7 press briefing that December 2025 collections slightly exceeded the roughly $101 million recorded in December 2024, up about $1.1 million year over year.

Revenue growth amid insecurity

While the December figure set a record, officials described it as part of a broader upward trend in monthly collections throughout fiscal year 2024–2025. That growth unfolded against a backdrop of widespread gang violence, extortion along key transport corridors, disruptions to supply chains and the closure of several ports and border crossings located in areas under gang control.

The customs agency’s resilience mirrors broader efforts by Haiti’s transition authorities, who since late 2024 have intensified police operations targeting powerful gangs controlling large swaths of Port-au-Prince. Those operations, often supported by the Kenya-led Multinational Security Mission (MSS) — now turned into the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) — aim to restore access to critical infrastructure and stabilize state revenues as officials work toward elections expected later this fall.

For the 2025–2026 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, officials said the agency is maintaining that momentum despite persistent instability.

Sévère emphasized that the revenue gains were not driven by harsher penalties on importers. Instead, he said, the agency focused on internal reforms, including improved tax administration, tighter oversight of customs offices and upgraded monitoring and intelligence systems.

Those measures reduced average clearance times from 21 days to a maximum of three days, officials said.

At the same time, fines imposed on importers declined. In December 2025, penalties totaled about $638,000, down from roughly $892,000 during the same month a year earlier.

Economic contraction continues amid rising poverty and the security imperative

Customs officials acknowledged that the agency’s performance contrasts sharply with broader economic trends. 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 year later.

The total value of imports, however, edged up to approximately $1.62 billion in 2025, compared with $1.60 billion in 2024. Exports continued to decline, falling to about $211 million last year from roughly $215 million the year before.

Those shifts were not enough to reverse Haiti’s prolonged downturn. IHSI estimates that gross domestic product (GDP) fell to about $4.25 billion in 2025, down from approximately $4.37 billion in 2024, marking the country’s seventh consecutive year of economic contraction.

“All major sectors of the economy were affected,” IHSI analysts said, citing continued declines in agriculture, manufacturing and services.

According to the public data agency, the extended recession has translated into worsening living conditions, fewer jobs, lower incomes and an erosion of household purchasing power amid persistently high inflation.

“Obviously, all of this leads to an increase in poverty,” analysts said, underscoring that restoring security remains critical.

They warned that any meaningful return to economic growth in 2026 will depend largely on whether authorities can curb gang violence, reopen trade routes and stabilize political institutions — conditions widely seen as prerequisites for credible elections and long-term recovery.

As Haiti’s transition leaders push ahead with anti-gang operations and electoral preparations, December’s customs windfall offers a rare bright spot — and a reminder of what remains at stake.

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