2025-12-31

Economic Data Confirms Lost Decade with 16 Percent Cumulative Contraction Haiti Libre republished IHSI Economic Accounts data on December 31 emphasizing that the 2.7 percent GDP contraction in 2025 brings the cumulative economic decline from 2019 to 2025 to 16 percent. This represents the worst seven-year economic performance since the 2010 earthquake. Haiti's economy has shrunk by nearly one-sixth over this period driven by gang territorial control of 80 percent of Port-au-Prince, political instability with no elections since 2016, and humanitarian crisis affecting 4.2 million people representing 37 percent of the population. The 16 percent cumulative decline demonstrates Haiti is experiencing structural collapse rather than temporary crisis. Economic activity has contracted continuously despite multiple changes in government leadership including President Jovenel Moise's assassination in July 2021, Prime Minister Ariel Henry's resignation in March 2024, and the CPT's establishment in April 2024. The consistency of economic deterioration across different political configurations validates that governance failures transcend individual leaders and reflect systemic institutional breakdown. Le National's year-end retrospective documented the futility of CPT promises throughout 2025. Four different CPT presidents pledged to restore security and organize elections yet the year December 31, 2025 closed with worse conditions than January 1 2025. Gang territorial control expanded, the December 22 candidate list deadline was missed, and the 365-day constitutional gap was created. The PM's December 30 endorsement of a calendar requiring the CPT to govern through 2026 ignores this evidence. The CPT has failed to deliver security, elections, or economic recovery in 21 months from April 2024 to December 2025. Extending its mandate for another 12 months will likely deepen rather than reverse the collapse. The economic data provides empirical validation for arguments against CPT extension. If 21 months of CPT governance produced 16 percent cumulative decline and zero progress on security or elections, extending the mandate to 33 months total through February 2027 lacks policy justification. The PM's characterization of the revised calendar as realistic must be evaluated against the CPT's demonstrated track record of failure to achieve stated objectives. Economic collapse of this magnitude requires political stability through legitimate government and democratic renewal, neither of which the current extension strategy provides.