Economy - overview:
In recent years, this Central American economy has been suffering
from a weak tax collection system, factory closings, the aftermaths
of Hurricane Mitch of 1998 and the devastating earthquakes of early
2001, and weak world coffee prices. On the bright side, inflation
has fallen to single digit levels, and total exports have grown
substantially. The trade deficit has been offset by annual
remittances of almost $2 billion from Salvadorans living abroad and
by external aid. The US dollar is now the legal tender. Because
competitor countries have fluctuating exchange rates, El Salvador
must face the challenge of raising productivity and lowering costs.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $29.41 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.1% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,600 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 30%
services: 60% (2001)
Population below poverty line:
48% (1999 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 (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3.8% (2001 est.)
Labor force:
2.35 million (1999)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 30%, industry 15%, services 55% (1999 est.)
Unemployment rate:
10% - but the economy has much underemployment. (2001 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.1 billion
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(2001 est.)
Industries:
food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer,
textiles, furniture, light metals
Industrial production growth rate:
3% (2002 est.)
Electricity - production:
3.729 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 44%
hydro: 30.9%
other: 25.1% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
3.777 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
44 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
353 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
39,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; shrimp;
beef, dairy products
Exports:
$3 billion (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles,
chemicals, electricity
Exports - partners:
US 63.3%, Guatemala 12%, Honduras 6.8%, Nicaragua 4.5% (2002)
Imports:
$4.9 billion (2002)
Imports - commodities:
raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs,
petroleum, electricity
Imports - partners:
US 39%, Guatemala 10.1%, Mexico 7.2%, France 4% (2002)
Debt - external:
$5.6 billion (2001 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
total $252 million; $57 million from US (1999 est.)
Currency:
US dollar (USD)
Currency code:
USD
Exchange rates:
8.75 the US dollar is the legal tender
Fiscal year:
calendar year