Haiti has a free market economy with low labor costs. A republic, it was a French colony before gaining independence in an uprising by its enslaved people. It faced embargoes and isolation after its independence as well as political crises punctuated by foreign interventions and devastating natural disasters. Haiti's estimated population in 2018 was 11,439,646. The Economist reported in 2010: "Long known as the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, Haiti has stumbled from one crisis to another since the Duvalier (François Duvalier) years."

Haiti has an agricultural economy. Over half of the world's vetiver oil (an essential oil used in high-end perfumes) comes from Haiti. Bananas, cocoa, and mangoes are important export crops. Haiti has also moved to expand to higher-end manufacturing, producing Android-based tablets and current sensors and transformers. Its major trading partner is the United States (US), which provides the country with preferential trade access to the US market through the Haiti Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) and the Haiti Economic Lift Program Encouragement Acts (HELP) legislation.

Vulnerability to natural disasters, as well as poverty and limited access to education are among Haiti's most serious disadvantages. Two-fifths of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation. Haiti maintains a trade deficit, which it is working to address by moving into higher-end manufacturing and more value-added products in the agriculture sector. Remittances are the primary source of foreign exchange, equaling nearly 20% of GDP. Haiti's economy was severely impacted by the 2010 Haiti earthquake which occurred on 12 January 2010.

Before the people enslaved in Haiti to work its plantations revolted against French colonization in 1804, Haiti ranked as the world's richest and most productive colony. In the formative years of independence, Haiti suffered from isolation on the international stage, as evidenced by the early lack of diplomatic recognition accorded to it by Europe and the United States (which did not recognize it until 1862); this had a negative impact on investment in Haiti. Another economic obstacle in Haiti's early independence was its payment of 150 million francs to France beginning in 1825; this did much to drain the country of its capital stock. France forced Haiti to pay for its independence and freedom from colonization. According to a 2014 study, the Haitian economy stagnated due to a combination of weak state power and adverse international relations. The authors write:

For the newborn 'Negro republic', it was hard to become recognised as a sovereign nation state, it was difficult to form strategic alliances, to get access to foreign loans, and to safeguard trade interests, and it was overloaded with debt under threat of external violence (the French indemnity). Self-chosen isolation, for instance by prohibiting foreign landownership, further reduced the choice set of successive Haitian administrations. When opportunities for export-led growth opened up in the late 19th century, the odds were stacked against Haiti.

The United States invaded and occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934.

In 1957 François "Papa Doc" Duvalier won the Haitian presidential election. His tenure brought extreme economic damage, with more than half of the government budget drained away from productive spending onto the Presidential Guard and Tonton Macoutes militia. A government account known as the Régie du Tabac collected revenue from the governmental tobacco monopoly, revenue from taxes on cotton and sugar, alongside fees for import licenses, government franchises and state authorized monopolies on the sale of cement, matches, flour and automobiles, monopolies that were granted to private businessmen in return for kickbacks. In total, the Regie du Tabac was estimated to have provided Duvalier with $10 million per annum.

In the aftermath of the 1994 restoration of constitutional governance, Haitian officials have indicated their commitment to economic reform through the implementation of sound fiscal and monetary policies and the enactment of legislation mandating the modernization of state-owned enterprises. A council to guide the modernization program (CMEP) was established and a timetable was drawn up to modernize nine key parastatals. Although the state-owned flour-mill and cement plants have been transferred to private owners, progress on the other seven parastatals has stalled. The modernization of Haiti's state-enterprises remains a controversial political issue in Haiti.