Economy – Overview:
The smallest country in Central America geographically, El Salvador has the third largest economy in the region. With the global recession in 2009, real GDP contracted by 3.1%. The economy slowed even further during 2010-12. Remittances accounted for 17% of GDP in 2011 and were received by about a third of all households. In 2006, El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which has bolstered the export of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector amid increased Asian competition. El Salvador has promoted an open trade and investment environment and has completed a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds. The Salvadoran Government maintained fiscal discipline during post-war reconstruction and reconstruction following earthquakes in 2001 and hurricanes in 1998 and 2005, but El Salvador’s external debt has been mounting over the last several years. Taxes levied by the government include a value added tax (VAT) of 13%, income tax of 30%, excise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes, and import duties. The VAT accounted for about 51.7% of total tax revenues in 2011. El Salvador’s external debt amounts to about one-fourth of GDP. In 2012, El Salvador successfully completed a $461 million compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) – a United States Government agency aimed at stimulating economic growth and reducing poverty – in the country’s northern region, the primary conflict zone during the civil war, through investments in education, public services, enterprise development, and transportation infrastructure. In January 2013, the MCC approved El Salvador as eligible for a possible second MCC compact.
GDP (Purchasing Power Parity):
$45.98 billion (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 99
$45.3 billion (2011 est.)
$44.67 billion (2010 est.)
Note: data are in 2012 US dollars
GDP (Official Exchange Rate):
$23.99 billion (2012 est.)
GDP – Real Growth Rate:
1.5% (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 145
1.4% (2011 est.)
1.4% (2010 est.)
GDP – Per Capita (PPP):
$7,700 (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 135
$7,700 (2011 est.)
$7,600 (2010 est.)
Note: data are in 2012 US dollars
GDP – Composition by Sector:
Agriculture: 10.5%
Industry: 30%
Services: 59.4% (2012 est.)
Labor Force:
2.593 million (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 112
Labor force – by Occupation:
Agriculture: 21%
Industry: 20%
Services: 58% (2011 est.)
Unemployment Rate:
6.9% (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 74
7% (2011 est.)
Note: data are official rates; but the economy has much underemployment
Population Below Poverty Line:
36.5% (2010 est.)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share:
Lowest 10%: 1%
Highest 10%: 37% (2009 est.)
Distribution of Family Income – Gini Index:
46.9 (2007)
Country comparison to the world: 31
52.5 (2001)
Investment (Gross Fixed):
14.7% of GDP (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 136
Budget:
Revenues: $4.835 billion
Expenditures: $5.534 billion (2012 est.)
Taxes and Other Revenues:
20.2% of GDP (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 162
Budget surplus (+) or Deficit (-):
-2.9% of GDP (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 107
Public Debt:
57.4% of GDP (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 48 57.5% of GDP (2011 est.)
Note: El Salvador’s total public debt includes non-financial public sector debt, financial public sector debt, and central bank debt
Inflation Rate (Consumer Prices):
2.4% (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 48
5.1% (2011 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate:
6.2% (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 141
5.99% (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Narrow Money:
$2.942 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 117
$2.561 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Broad Money:
$9.527 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 109
$9.213 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Domestic Credit:
$11.11 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 94
$10.69 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares:
$5.474 billion (31 December 2011)
Country comparison to the world: 86
$4.227 billion (31 December 2010)
$4.432 billion (31 December 2009)
Agriculture – Products:
Coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products
Industries:
Food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals
Industrial Production Growth Rate:
1.8% (2011 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 120
Current Account Balance:
-$1.035 billion (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 112
-$1.223 billion (2011 est.)
Exports:
$5.804 billion (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 107
$5.402 billion (2011 est.)
Exports – Commodities:
Offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, textiles and apparel, gold, ethanol, chemicals, electricity, iron and steel manufactures
Exports – Partners:
US 45.1%, Guatemala 13.3%, Honduras 8.6%, Nicaragua 5.2%, Germany 4.1% (2011)
Imports:
$10.44 billion (2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 95
$9.801 billion (2011 est.)
Imports – Commodities:
Raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity
Imports – Partners:
US 39%, Guatemala 9.8%, Mexico 7.7%, China 5.2% (2011)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold:
$2.623 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 114
$2.504 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Debt – External:
$12.84 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 86
$12.18 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment – At Home:
$8.747 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 84
$8.097 billion (31 December 2011 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment – Abroad:
$12.4 million (31 December 2012 est.)
Country comparison to the world: 89
$12.4 million (31 December 2011 est.)
Exchange Rates:
Note: the US dollar is used as a medium of exchange and circulates freely in the economy, 1 (2012 est.)
1 (2011 est.)
Fiscal Year:
Calendar year