El Salvador/

Despite being the smallest country geographically in Central America, El Salvador has the third largest economy in the region. The economy took a hit from the global recession and real GDP contracted by 3.5% in 2009. The economy began a slow recovery in 2010 on the back of improved export and remittances figures. Remittances accounted for 16% of GDP in 2009, and about a third of all households receive these transfers. In 2006 El Salvador was the first country to ratify the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which has bolstered the export of processed foods, sugar, and ethanol, and supported investment in the apparel sector amid increased Asian competition and the expiration of the Multi-Fiber Agreement in 2005. El Salvador has promoted an open trade and investment environment, and has embarked on a wave of privatizations extending to telecom, electricity distribution, banking, and pension funds. In late 2006, the government and the Millennium Challenge Corporation signed a five-year, $461 million compact to stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty in the country’s northern region, the primary conflict zone during the civil war, through investments in education, public services, enterprise development, and transportation infrastructure. With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency in 2001, El Salvador lost control over monetary policy. Any counter-cyclical policy response to the downturn must be through fiscal policy, which is constrained by legislative requirements for a two-thirds majority to approve any international financing.

$43.98 billion (2010 est.)

$43.46 billion (2009 est.)

$45.04 billion (2008 est.)

$21.8 billion (2010 est.)

1.2% (2010 est.)

-3.5% (2009 est.)

2.4% (2008 est.)

$7,300 (2010 est.)

$7,200 (2009 est.)

$7,500 (2008 est.)

2.94 million (2010 est.)

7% (2010 est.)

7.2% (2009 est.)

30.7% (2006 est.)

52.4 (2002)

52.5 (2001)

13.7% of GDP (2010 est.)

55% of GDP (2010 est.)

52.3% of GDP (2009 est.)

0.8% (2010 est.)

-0.2% (2009)

12.33% (31 December 2008)

7.81% (31 December 2007)

$2.534 billion (31 December 2010 est)

$2.153 billion (31 December 2009 est)

$9.666 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$9.011 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$10.01 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$9.867 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$4.432 billion (31 December 2009)

$4.656 billion (31 December 2008)

$6.743 billion (31 December 2007)

coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; beef, dairy products

food processing, beverages, petroleum, chemicals, fertilizer, textiles, furniture, light metals

0.9% (2010 est.)

5.559 billion kWh (2007 est.)

4.676 billion kWh (2007 est.)

7 million kWh (2007 est.)

38 million kWh (2007 est.)

0 bbl/day (2008 est.)

46,000 bbl/day (2009 est.)

1,927 bbl/day (2007 est.)

46,310 bbl/day (2007 est.)

0 bbl (1 January 2010 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (2008 est.)

0 cu m (1 January 2010 est.)

-$907 million (2010 est.)

-$374 million (2009)

$4.377 billion (2010 est.)

$3.797 billion (2009)

offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, textiles and apparel, gold, ethanol, chemicals, electricity, iron and steel manufactures

US 43.86%, Guatemala 13.92%, Honduras 13.22%, Nicaragua 5.65% (2009)

$7.98 billion (2010 est.)

$7.255 billion (2009)

raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity

US 29.79%, Mexico 10.26%, Guatemala 9.7%, China 4.5%, Honduras 4.4% (2009)

$2.819 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$2.985 billion (31 December 2009)

$11.45 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$10.83 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$7.522 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$7.132 billion (31 December 2009 est.)

$273 million (31 December 2010 est.)

$333 million (31 December 2009 est.)

the US dollar became El Salvador’s currency in 2001