El Salvador Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
With the adoption of the US dollar as its currency, El Salvador has lost control over monetary policy and must concentrate on maintaining a disciplined fiscal policy. GDP per capita is roughly only half that of Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, and the distribution of income is highly unequal. The trade deficit has been offset by annual remittances of almost $2 billion from Salvadorans living abroad and external aid. The government is striving to open new export markets, encourage foreign investment, modernize the tax and healthcare systems, and stimulate the sluggish economy.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $30.99 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.4% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $4,800 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry: 30%
services: 60% (2001)

Population below poverty line:
48% (1999 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.4%
highest 10%: 39.3% (2001)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
52.2 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.1% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
2.35 million (1999)

Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 30%, industry 15%, services 55% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
6.5% - but the economy has much underemployment (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $2.1 billion
expenditures: $2.5 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2001 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate:
1.4% (2003 est.)

Electricity - production:
3.729 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 44%
hydro: 30.9%
other: 25.1% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
3.777 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
44 million kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
353 million kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
39,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
coffee, sugar, corn, rice, beans, oilseed, cotton, sorghum; shrimp; beef, dairy products

Exports:
$3.162 billion (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
offshore assembly exports, coffee, sugar, shrimp, textiles, chemicals, electricity

Exports - partners:
US 62.9%, Guatemala 11.9%, Honduras 6.8%, Nicaragua 4.4% (2002)

Imports:
$5.466 billion (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
raw materials, consumer goods, capital goods, fuels, foodstuffs, petroleum, electricity

Imports - partners:
US 38.2%, Guatemala 9.9%, Mexico 6.1% (2002)

Debt - external:
$6.5 billion (2003 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
total $252 million; $57 million from US (1995)

Currency:
US dollar (USD)

Currency code:
USD

Exchange rates:
the US dollar is the legal tender