El Salvador Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution; contamination of soils from disposal of toxic wastes

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: Law of the Sea

Climate

tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season (November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in uplands

Land use

agricultural land: 74.7% (2018 est.)

arable land: 33.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 10.9% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 30.7% (2018 est.)

forest: 13.6% (2018 est.)

other: 11.7% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 75.4% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

0.6% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 22.15 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 7.17 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 4.71 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 1,648,996 tons (2010 est.)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 470 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 210 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 1.43 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

26.27 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)