Overview: The economy experienced a modest recovery during the period 1983-86, after a sharp decline in the early 1980s. Real GDP grew by 1.5% a year on the strength of value added by the manufacturing and service sectors. In 1987 the economy expanded by 2.5% as agricultural output recovered from the 1986 drought. The agricultural sector accounts for 25% of GDP, employs about 40% of the labor force, and contributes about 66% to total exports. Coffee is the major commercial crop, contributing 60% to export earnings. The manufacturing sector, based largely on food and beverage processing, accounts for 17% of GDP and 15% of employment. Rates of inflation and unemployment are both high at about 20% and 30%, respectively, and real GDP in 1987 was about two-thirds of its 1978 level.

GDP: $4.1 billion, per capita $780; real growth rate 1% (1988)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 20% (January 1989 est.)

Unemployment rate: 30% (1986 est.)

Budget: revenues $518 million; expenditures $642 million, including capital expenditures of $71 million (1987 est.)

Exports: $577 million (f.o.b., 1987); @m5commodities--coffee 60%, sugar, cotton, shrimp; @m5partners--US 49%, FRG 24%, Guatemala 7%, Costa Rica 4%, Japan 4%

Imports: $961 million (c.i.f., 1987); @m5commodities--petroleum products, consumer goods, foodstuffs, machinery, construction materials, fertilizer; partners--US 40%, Guatemala 12%, Venezuela 7%, Mexico 7%, FRG 5%, Japan 4%

External debt: $1.8 billion (December 1988)

Industrial production: growth rate 2.7% (1987 est.)

Electricity: 669,000 kW capacity; 1,813 million kWh produced, 350 kWh per capita (1988)

Industries: food processing, textiles, clothing, petroleum products, cement

Agriculture: coffee, cotton, corn, sugar, beans, rice, sorghum, wheat

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-87), $2.1 billion; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-86), $276 million

Currency: Salvadoran colon (plural--colones); 1 Salvadoran colon (C) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: Salvadoran colones (C) per US$1--5.0000 (fixed rate since 1986)

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding El Salvador on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of El Salvador Economy 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about El Salvador Economy 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.