According to the World Bank report "Haitian cities : actions for today with a eye for tomorrow" while in 1950 only 10% of the Haitian population lived in urban areas, the rate of urbanization reached today in Haiti 64% (Projected from the last census) of the total population or nearly 6 million city dwellers, in constant increase. Each year, more than 133,000 additional people leave rural areas to settle in cities... In 10 years, the number of city dwellers is expected to increase by about 2 million people and could reach nearly 11 million in 2050 with a 76% urban rate mentions the report.

If the statistics of more than 180 countries show an increase in income over 20 years as the proportion of the population living in urban areas increases, the World Bank emphasizes that this relationship is not linear and that high population densities alone are not enough to create economies of agglomeration. According to the figures quoted in the report, Haiti is one of the few countries in Latin America and the Caribbean not to have benefited from its high rate of urbanization. In fact, while it increased between 1996 and 2013, per capita income dropped from $ 757 a year to $ 727 a year. The Bank attributes this result among other things to violence, political instability and major natural hazards repeatedly.

But it also explains in its report, that if Haiti did not profit economically from its urbanization, it is also due to the lack of infrastructure and urban services and a governance limited by a lack of financing.

According to the report, Haiti ranks fourth in the Latin America and Caribbean region in terms of urbanization, behind Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Mexico.

Télécharger le rapport de la Banque Mondiale (PDF, plus de 200 pages) : https://www.haitilibre.com/docs/Haiti-Urbanization-Review-en.pdf

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23361-haiti-politic-world-bank-report-on-urbanization-in-haiti.html

S/ HaitiLibre