El Salvador Economy:
GDP per capita is roughly half that of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, and the distribution of income is highly unequal. The government is striving to open new export markets, encourage foreign investment, modernize the tax and healthcare systems, and stimulate the sluggish economy. Implementation of the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement, ratified by El Salvador in 2004, is viewed as a key policy to help achieve these objectives. The trade deficit has been offset by annual remittances from Salvadorans living abroad - 16% of GDP in 2004 - and external aid. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency, El Salvador has lost control over monetary policy and must concentrate on maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$32.35 billion (2004 est.)
GDP real growth rate:
1.8% (2004 est.)
GDP per capita:
purchasing power parity: $4,900 (2004 est.)
GDP composition by sector:
agriculture: 9.2%
industry: 31.1%
services: 59.7%
(2004)
Labor force:
2.75 million (2004 est.)
Labor force by occupation:
agriculture: 17.1%, industry: 17.1%, services: 65.8% (2003 est.)
Unemployment rate:
6.3% but the economy has much underemployment (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line:
36.1% (2003 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.3% (2001)
Distribution of family income Gini index:
52.2 (2001 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.4% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
16.6% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.49 billion
expenditures: $2.78 billion including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
Public debt:
41.7% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture products:
Coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; shrimp; beef, dairy products
Industries:
food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals
Industrial production growth rate:
0.7% (2004 est.)
Electricity production:
4.16 billion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity consumption:
4.45 billion kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity exports:
91 million kWh (2004 est.)
Electricity imports:
473 million kWh (2004 est.)
Oil production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil consumption:
39,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil exports:
NA
Oil imports:
NA
Current account balance:
$-880.5 million (2004 est.)
Exports:
$3.25 billion (2004 est.)
Exports commodities:
offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity
Exports partners:
US 65.6%, Guatemala 11.8%, Honduras 6.3%, (2004)
Imports:
$5.97 billion (2004 est.)
Imports commodities:
raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity
Imports partners:
US 46.3%, , Guatemala 8.1%, Mexico 6% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.89 billion (2004 est.)
Debt external:
$4.79 billion (September 2004 est.)
Economic aid recipient:
$125 million $53 million from US (2003 est.)
Currency:
US dollar (USD)
Exchange rates:
the US dollar became El Salvador's currency in 2001
Fiscal year:
calendar year
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