Haiti

Economy & income

Currency

• Haitian gourde (HTG, G / Gde)
• ~131 HTG per USD (15 Jul 2026; ~130.9 spot) — managed float that has steadily depreciated
• the US dollar is widely quoted and used for imports, big-ticket items, rent and the huge remittance flows

GDP per capita

• ~$2,143 nominal (2024, World Bank current US$)
• IMF WEO ~$2,400+ (2025–26 est) — figures vary widely by source/methodology
• ~$3,183 PPP (2024, World Bank current int'l $)
• The poorest country in the Americas
• GDP has contracted for roughly seven consecutive years amid political collapse and gang violence

Average salary

• ~$188 gross/mo (~G25,000, wage.is, 2026 — FORMAL sector only)
• net lower. The overwhelming majority work in the informal economy at highly variable, much lower incomes, so any 'average' is unrepresentative

Median salary

• n/a — no reliable official median wage is published
• an informal-dominated labour market (well over 60% of workers) and data gaps make a headline median meaningless
• Rough formal-sector midpoint only ~$130–190/mo

Minimum wage

• Set by sector by the Conseil Supérieur des Salaires (CSS)
• Subcontracting/export-assembly (textiles) raised from 685 to 1,000 HTG/day (~$7.65) on 4 May 2026 after strikes ≈ ~$165–200/mo
• other segments 350–770 HTG/day (Segment A industry 770, Segment C 540, domestic workers 350) ≈ ~$60–155/mo
• Textile unions rejected it, still demanding 3,000 HTG/day

Cost of living

• Low in local terms but Numbeo data for Haiti is very thin/unreliable (few contributors) — flag it
• Heavy import-dependence makes fuel and many goods expensive (a gallon of gasoline ~850 HTG)
• scarcity, insecurity and currency slide push urban prices up

Digital landscape

Population

• 11.8 million (Jan 2025) — 60.8% urban
• median age 24.1 (very young)
• 50.5% female

Internet users

• 39.3% (~4.65M users; +53K / +1.2% YoY) — low penetration
• mobile is the primary and often only access method, constrained by electricity, cost and insecurity

Social media users

22.4% (~2.65M identities; 57.0% of internet users; 48.1% female, 51.9% male)

Mobile connections

• 10.2M cellular connections = 86.0% of population
• 93.7% of connections on mobile broadband (3G/4G)

Devices

mobile ~59.2% / desktop ~38.4% / tablet ~2.4% (StatCounter page-view share, Jun 2026) — genuinely mobile-first consumption

Ad spend

• n/a — DataReportal Digital 2025 Haiti publishes no ad-spend figure and no reliable local digital ad-spend series exists
• the market is small, largely informal and Meta-dominated
• Most spend that 'targets Haiti' is actually diaspora-facing US/Canada budget

Top social platforms

Facebook ~2.65M ad reach, 22.4% — the dominant platform, effectively 'the internet' for many

TikTok ~2.16M adults 18+, 28.8% of adults

Messenger ~818K, 6.9%

Instagram ~517K, 4.4%

LinkedIn ~370K

• YouTube — widely used for music/news; DataReportal publishes no ad-reach figure

Messengers

• Facebook Messenger (~818K reach — very strong; tied to Facebook's dominance)
• WhatsApp (widely used, especially for contact with the US/DR/Canada diaspora and business)
• Instagram Direct
• Telegram (niche). NB: MonCash/NatCash are mobile-MONEY rails, not chat apps

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Cash (dominant for nearly all everyday and e-commerce transactions)
• Mobile money — MonCash (Digicel + Sogebank, ~2M+ active users, the market leader) & NatCash (Natcom)
• International remittances — Western Union, MoneyGram, CAM, Unitransfer (enormous: ~20%+ of GDP)
• Bank transfer & cheques (formal businesses)
• Cards — Visa/Mastercard (limited; mostly elite & diaspora). PayPal is NOT available in Haiti

E-wallets

• MonCash (leading mobile-money wallet)
• NatCash
• Lajan Cash
• Mannitoks
• (no PayPal; card wallets like Apple/Google Pay barely present)

Cash on delivery

• High — the economy is overwhelmingly cash-based
• card penetration is very low, so cash-on-delivery / pay-at-pickup (e.g. Amazon 'cash') is the default for any online order

E-commerce

• Very low / nascent — most 'stores' are Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp pages taking orders by DM
• few businesses have real websites or online payment, constrained by electricity, connectivity and insecurity

Notes

• MonCash is a genuine M-Pesa-style mobile-money rail (unlike neighbouring DR) and, with cash + remittances, is the backbone of consumer payments
• Best stack for Haiti: cash/COD + MonCash
• for diaspora-facing funnels, standard US card/wallet rails

Audience & culture

Languages

• Haitian Creole / Kreyòl (~100% — the everyday universal language; use it for creatives)
• French (co-official, ~42% fluent — formal, administrative and elite/press use)
• English & Spanish (diaspora ties and the Dominican border/trade)

Religion

• Roman Catholic ~55% (CIA 2018; declining)
• Protestant/Evangelical ~28–37% (fast-growing, e.g. 2024 Policite survey 37% Protestant vs 29% Catholic)
• Vodou officially recognized — only ~2% self-identify but an estimated 50%+ practice Vodou elements syncretically alongside Christianity

Median age

24.1 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025) — a very young population

Key seasons

• Kanaval / Carnival (Feb — the single biggest cultural event)
• Rara (Lent through Easter — street/roots-music processions)
• Haitian Flag Day (18 May — strong national/diaspora pride) & Mother's Day (late May — remittance spike)
• Fèt Gede (1–2 Nov — Vodou 'Day of the Dead')
• Christmas → New Year & Independence Day (Dec–1 Jan — soup joumou; peak spending & remittances)
• Back-to-school (Sept)

Cultural notes

• A diaspora-driven society: huge communities in the US, Canada, France and the DR send remittances worth ~20%+ of GDP that fuel consumption, so much 'Haiti' marketing is really diaspora-facing
• Facebook is effectively the internet
• radio remains king (literacy ~53%)
• kompa and rap kreyòl anchor youth culture
• audiences are family- and community-oriented

Where to find creators

• Facebook
• TikTok
• YouTube
• Instagram

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Celebrities

Wyclef Jean ~2M Instagram

Grammy-winning musician/producer (The Fugees) — the most internationally recognized Haitian artist

Naomi Osaka ~2.9M Instagram

Tennis superstar & 4-time Grand Slam champion of Haitian descent (father Leonard François, from Jacmel); competes for Japan

S

Sarodj Bertin ~3.8M Instagram

Model, lawyer, singer & human-rights advocate; former Miss Haiti — high fashion/beauty relevance

Garcelle Beauvais ~1.4M Instagram

Actress & TV personality (The Jamie Foxx Show, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) — Haiti-born, US crossover

R

Rutshelle Guillaume ~1M Instagram

Konpa/zouk singer-songwriter — the most-followed artist based in Haiti ('queen of Instagram')

Michaël Brun ~272K Instagram

DJ/producer blending kompa with electronic (BAYO series; 2025 NFL Wild Card anthem 'Touchdown')

Jimmy Jean-Louis ~200K+ Instagram

Actor (played 'The Haitian' on NBC's Heroes; Toussaint Louverture) — Pétion-Ville-born

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• Sweepstakes / mobile content & VAS
• Nutra & health/beauty (COD; also diaspora)
• Dating
• iGaming / sports betting (offshore)
• Finance — remittances, microloans & mobile-money offers
• E-commerce / diaspora gifting

Active networks

• Global CPA networks serving the Caribbean/francophone + US-diaspora — AdCombo, Mobidea, MyLead, Golden Goose, Los Pollos
• Diaspora-targeted US/Canada campaigns run direct on Meta & Google
• Local reach is almost entirely via Meta/Google self-serve rather than dedicated HT networks

Payouts

• On-island Tier-3 (very low): dating ~$0.5–2 CPL
• sweeps ~$0.5–3
• nutra COD ~$8–18. Diaspora-targeted offers (US Kreyòl creatives) pay full Tier-1 rates and are where the money is

Competition

• Low on-island — a small, poor, low-CPM market with thin monetization and real logistics/security risk
• The value sits in the US/Canada/France Kreyòl-speaking diaspora, which behaves like a Tier-1 sub-segment
• smart buyers geo-split accordingly

Seasonality

• Carnival (Feb)
• Flag Day & Mother's Day (May — remittance spike)
• Fèt Gede (Nov)
• Christmas → New Year/Independence Day (Dec–Jan — spending & remittance peak)
• back-to-school (Sept)

Traffic sources

• Facebook / Meta Ads (by far dominant)
• TikTok Ads
• Google Search & YouTube
• Push & native (budget — RichAds, PropellerAds, MGID)
• WhatsApp / Messenger
• Offshore iGaming affiliates

Good to know

Capital

Port-au-Prince

Major cities

• Port-au-Prince (~1.2M city / ~2.6M+ metro incl. Delmas, Pétion-Ville)
• Carrefour (~511K, PaP metro)
• Delmas
• Pétion-Ville
• Cap-Haïtien (~364K, north — relative safe haven)
• Gonaïves
• Les Cayes
• Croix-des-Bouquets

Time zones

• Single zone — Eastern Time
• STANDARD is EST (UTC−5)
• Haiti observes US-style DST (EDT, UTC−4) from Mar–Nov (reinstated 2017)

Android vs iOS

83% 17%

Android 83% iOS 17%

Phone brands

• Samsung (~35.9%)
• Motorola (~21.0% — unusually high, reflecting US-market handsets arriving via diaspora & the DR)
• Apple (~16.8%)
• Tecno (~7.2%)
• (~6% unknown)
• T-Mobile-branded/others (~3.7%)

Top e-commerce

• Facebook / Instagram / WhatsApp social selling (the dominant channel)
• Amazon (via diaspora, freight-forwarders & 'Amazon Cash')
• AliExpress / Temu / Shein (cross-border, growing)
• Local classifieds & shop pages
• (no major domestic marketplace)

Peak activity

Weekday evenings ~19:00–23:00 EST (with a midday bump), but electricity and connectivity gaps shift usage unpredictably; overlaps neatly with US-Eastern diaspora hours

Creative taboos

• Political instability & gang violence / humanitarian crisis (highly sensitive — never trivialize)
• Vodou stereotypes and mockery
• poverty-porn imagery
• DR–Haiti tensions & mass deportations
• Christian-vs-Vodou religious friction

Also worth knowing

1. The diaspora is where the money is — target US/Canada/France Kreyòl-speaking Haitians (remittances ~$3–4B/yr, ~20%+ of GDP) for Tier-1 payouts; on-island CPMs are rock-bottom.
2. Build funnels on Facebook + MonCash, not cards/PayPal (PayPal is unavailable) — Facebook is the internet and MonCash is the wallet.
3. The 2024–26 security/political collapse (gang control of much of Port-au-Prince) disrupts logistics, COD and ad delivery — treat instability as a core planning variable.