El Salvador: Doubling Down On Bitcoin
Investors may be fleeing Bitcoin but El Salvador's president seems determined to buy the dip.
El Salvador GDP and Economic Data
Includes El Salvador real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about El Salvador economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of El Salvador best banks and safest banks are also available.
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International Reserves
USD 3.6 billion (2018)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Real GDP growth
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| 1.9% | 2.1% | -2.1% | 2.1% | 3.8% | 2.8% | 2.2% |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | ||
| 1.7% | 2.4% | 2.5% | 2.3% | 2.5% |
*Estimate
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GDP (PPP) - share of world total
| 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2019* |
| 0.08% | 0.06% | 0.06% | 0.05% | 0.04% |
*Estimate
Source
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 4.9%
- industry: 24.7%
- services: 60.3%
(2019 estimate)
Inflation
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| -0.7% | 0.6% | 1% | 1.1% | 0.9% |
*Estimate
Source
Unemployment rate
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| 6.5% | 6.9% | 6.8% | 7% | 7% |
*Estimate
Source
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 64.3% | 65.5% | 67.3% | 67.1% | 68.3% |
*Estimate
Source
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| -3.5% | -2.9% | -2.4% | -2.5% | -3.1% |
*Estimate
Source
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: B-
Moody': B3
Standard & Poor's / Moody's
Source
Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source
Current account balance by percentage of GDP
-4.8 % (2018 estimate)
Source
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
28.9% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export
0.03% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
USD 12.7 billion (2018 estimate)
Export commodities
Offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, textiles and apparel, ethanol, chemicals, electricity, iron and steel manufactures
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Import commodities
Raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity
Exports - major partners
US 45.7%, Honduras 13.9%, Guatemala 13.5%, Nicaragua 6.7%, Costa Rica 4.6% (2017)
Imports - major partners
US 36.7%, Guatemala 10.5%, China 8.7%, Mexico 7.4%, Honduras 6.7% (2017)
FDI inflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 347 million | USD 889 million | USD 840 million |
FDI outflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD -0.4 million | USD 0.2 million | USD 0.0 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD 5.0 million | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
N/A
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking:
91 out of 190 countries
Subcategories:
Starting a Business: 148 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 168 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 87 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 79 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 25 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 140 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 70 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 46 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 126 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 92 out of 190 countries
Source
Global competitiveness ranking
103 out of 141 countries (2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
103 out of 141 countries
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
Source
Source
Religions
Roman Catholic 50%, Protestant 36%, other 2%, none 12% (2014 est.)
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020* |
| 5.25 million | 5.87 million | 6.19 million | 6.46 million | 6.77 million |
*Estimate
Source
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2018 |
| 38.4% | 44.1% | 58.9% | 72% |
Literacy
Total population: 88.1%
Male: 90.3%
Female: 86.3%
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2016 est.)
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day
8.5% (last available estimate, 2017)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
38 (last available estimate, 2017)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Source
Freedom House rating
Free
Political Rights: 2
Civil Liberties: 3 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 13.7% Mobile: 146.9% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)
Mercer Cost of living index
San Salvador: 166th (2019)