That dollar amount results from a 34.2% increase compared to $4.8 billion five years prior during 2020.
Year over year, the value of El Salvador’s exports flatlined via a -0.8% slowdown from $6.5 billion starting from 2023.
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 94.2% of products exported from El Salvador was bought by importers in: United States of America (33.6% of El Salvador’s total), Guatemala (20.2%), Honduras (16.2%), Nicaragua (9%), Costa Rica (4.8%), Mexico (3.9%), Panama (1.9%), Dominican Republic (1.7%), mainland China (0.82%), Spain (0.78%), Canada (0.72%) and South Korea (0.68%).
From a continental perspective, 56.2% of Salvadorean exports by value was delivered to Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean while 38.1% was sold to importers located in North America. El Salvador shipped another 3.2% worth of goods to buyers in Europe.
Tinier percentages went to customers in Asia (2.3%), Oceania (0.11%) mostly Australia, then Africa (0.07%).
Given El Salvador’s population of 6.4 million people, its total $6.45 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $1,000 for every resident in the Central American country. That dollar metric lags the average $1,025 per capita one year earlier during 2023.
El Salvador’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Salvadoran global shipments during 2024 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$1.6 billion (24.1% of total exports)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $549.3 million (8.5%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $367.3 million (5.7%)
- Paper, paper items: $366.4 million (5.7%)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $326.1 million (5.1%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $322.5 million (5%)
- Cereal/milk preparations: $226.7 million (3.5%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $182.2 million (2.8%)
- Iron, steel: $179.8 million (2.8%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $176.8 million (2.7%)
El Salvador’s top 10 export product categories generated almost two-thirds (65.9%) of the overall value of Salvadorean shipments.
Cereal and milk preparations represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 16.4% year over year since 2023.
In second place for improving export sales was plastics, both as materials and items made from plastic, which was advanced by 8.7%.
El Salvador’s shipments of beverages, spirits and vinegar posted the third-fastest gain in value, up by 4.7%.
The leading decliner among El Salvador’s top 10 export categories were the metals iron and steel which fell -11.6% year over year.
Drilling down to the more detailed 4-digit HTS codes, El Salvador’s top 10 most valuable exports are knitted or crocheted t-shirts and vests (9.2% of the Salvadorean total), knitted or crocheted jerseys and pullovers (6%), plastic packing goods including lids and caps (4.7%), sugar (3.7%), tissues or napkins and toilet paper (3%), medication mixes in dosage (2.7%), knitted or crocheted stockings and hosiery (2.5%), non-alcoholic drinks excluding water, juice or milk (2.5%), insulated wire or cable (2.5%), then electrical capacitators (also 2.5%).
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$1.2 billion (Down by -11.7% since 2023)
- Sugar, sugar confectionery: $275.2 million (Down by -0.6%)
- Coffee, tea, spices: $122.9 million (Down by -9.9%)
- Paper, paper items: $29.5 million (Up by 23.4%)
- Meat/seafood preparations: $19.2 million (Up by 11.3%)
- Milling products, malt, starches: $13.6 million (Down by -35.1%)
- Live trees, plants, cut flowers: $6.7 million (Up by 27.6%)
- Lead: $3.5 million (Down by -1.2%)
- Clothing, accessories (not knit or crochet): $2.7 million (Down by -92.4%)
- Ores, slag, ash: $767,000 (Down by -19.2%)
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$9.53 billion deficit in 2024, rising 4.1% from -$9.15 billion in red ink one year earlier for 2023.
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 billion (Down by -7.5% since 2023)
- Machinery including computers: -$1.1 billion (Up by 3.9%)
- Vehicles: -$1.1 billion (Up by 8.1%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$812.6 million (Up by 8.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$469.5 million (Up by 18%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$385.2 million (Up by 16.5%)
- Miscellaneous food preparations: -$340.6 million (Up by 14.1%)
- Meat: -$334.5 million (Up by 11.5%)
- Cereals: -$326.1 million (Down by -22.8%)
- Iron, steel: -$298.5 million (Up by 6.5%)
El Salvador has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits historically 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 7.7% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($84.2 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 7.7% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 8.7% for 2023. 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 5.216% for 2024, equal to the average 5.216% in 2023 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 9, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on April 9, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on April 9, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on April 9, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on April 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on April 9, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of El Salvador. Accessed on April 9, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on April 9, 2025