That dollar amount results from a 36% increase compared to $4.78 billion five years prior during 2019.
Year over year, the value of El Salvador’s exports fell by -8.7% compared to $7.12 billion starting from 2022.
Please note that El Salvador adopted the US dollar as its official currency in 2001. Later in 2021, El Salvador became the world’s first country to also recognize the digital currency Bitcoin as legal tender.
El Salvador’s Major Trading Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 94.7% of products exported from El Salvador was bought by importers in: United States of America (36% of El Salvador’s total), Guatemala (18.4%), Honduras (16.3%), Nicaragua (7.8%), Costa Rica (4.8%), Mexico (3.4%), Panama (2%), Dominican Republic (1.67%), Canada (1.66%), Spain (1.2%), Germany (0.7%) and South Korea (0.6%).
From a continental perspective, 53.4% of Salvadorean exports by value was delivered to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean while 41% was sold to North American importers. El Salvador shipped another 3.9% worth of goods to Europe.
Tinier percentages went to buyers in Asia (1.5%), Oceania (0.14%) mostly Australia, then Africa (0.03%).
Given El Salvador’s population of 6.36 million people, its total $6.5 billion in 2023 exports translates to roughly $1,025 for every resident in the Central American country. That dollar metric lags the average $1,100 per capita one year earlier during 2022.
El Salvador’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Salvadoran global shipments during 2023 at the 2-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from El Salvador.
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: US$1.7 billion (26.7% of total exports)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $505.5 million (7.8%)
- Paper, paper items: $388.8 million (6%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $352 million (5.4%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $344.2 million (5.3%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $325.1 million (5%)
- Iron, steel: $203.3 million (3.1%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $194.7 million (3%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $182.7 million (2.8%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $168.9 million (2.6%)
El Salvador’s top 10 exports accounted for over two-thirds (67.7%) of the overall value of Salvadorean shipments.
Beverages, spirits and vinegar was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 16.8% since 2022.
In second place for improving export sales were Salvadorean shipments of the metals iron and steel, advancing by 16.7%.
El Salvador’s shipments of pharmaceuticals posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 7.9% year over year.
The leading decliner among El Salvador’s top 10 export categories was plastics (both as materials and items made from plastic) pulled down by a -16.2% reduction from 2022.
Drilling down to the more detailed 4-digit HTS codes, El Salvador’s top 10 most valuable exports are knitted or crocheted jerseys and pullovers (10.7% of the Salvadorean total), knitted or crocheted jerseys and pullovers (7.1%), plastic packing goods including lids and caps (4.6%), sugar (3.6%), tissues or napkins and toilet paper (3.4%), electrical capacitators (3%), knitted or crocheted stockings and hosiery (also 3%), medication mixes in dosage (2.7%), non-alcoholic drinks excluding water, juice or milk (2.5%), and processed petroleum oils (2.4%).
Products Driving El Salvador’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Salvadoran product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports represent the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Knit or crochet clothing, accessories: US$1.3 billion (Down by -12.5% since 2022)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $276.8 million (Up by 2.1%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $136.4 million (Down by -17.3%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $35.1 million (Down by -42%)
- Paper, paper items: $23.9 million (Reversing a -$38.1 million deficit)
- Milling products, malt, starches: $21 million (Up by 358%)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $17.3 million (Down by -3.7%)
- Miscellaneous textiles, worn clothing: $6.6 million (Reversing a -$16.2 million deficit)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $5.3 million (Down by -47.1%)
- Lead: $3.6 million (Up by 258.9%)
El Salvador has highly positive net exports in the international trade of apparel well ahead of sugar and coffee, partially due to the country’s low-cost labor force. In turn, these cashflows indicate El Salvador’s strong competitive advantages under the clothing, sugar and coffee product categories.
Products Causing El Salvador’s Worst Trade Surpluses
El Salvador incurred an overall -US$9.15 billion deficit in 2023, falling by -8.4% from -$9.993 billion in red ink one year earlier for 2022.
Below are exports from El Salvador that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country El Salvador’s goods trail Salvadoran importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.2 billion (Down by -11.1% since 2022)
- Machinery including computers: -$1 billion (Down by -9.6%)
- Vehicles: -$980.6 million (Up by 8%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$749.7 million (Up by 9.4%)
- Cereals: -$422.5 million (Down by -10.8%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$398 million (Down by -2.5%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$330.7 million (Down by -35.1%)
- Meat: -$300.1 million (Up by 16.6%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: -$298.6 million (Up by 10.7%)
- Iron, steel: -$280.2 million (Down by -32.6%)
El Salvador has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits notably for refined petroleum oils and petroleum gases under the mineral fuels including oil product category.
Salvadoran Export Companies
No Salvadoran corporation ranks among Forbes Global 2000.
Wikipedia lists exporters from El Salvador. Selected examples are shown below.
- Empresas ADOC (shoes)
- Gpremper (internet technology)
- TACA Airlines (airliner)
- Unicomer Group (international retailer)
In macroeconomic terms, El Salvador’s total exported goods represent 8.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2023 ($74.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 8.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2023 compares to 10.2% for 2022. Those percentages suggest a decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for El Salvador’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. El Salvador’s unemployment rate averaged 5.5% for 2023, up from an average 5% in 2022, based on International Monetary Fund statistics.
El Salvador’s capital city is San Salvador.
See also Exported Food from El Salvador Plus Food Imports, Sugar Exports by Country, Honduras Top 10 Exports, Guatemala’s Top 10 Trading Partners and Nicaragua’s Top 10 Exports
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Profiles. Accessed on April 30, 2024
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 30, 2024
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 30, 2024
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 30, 2024
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 30, 2024
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on April 30, 2024
Wikipedia, List of Companies of El Salvador. Accessed on April 30, 2024
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 30, 2024