Economy - overview: El Salvador is a poor Central American economy which has been suffering from a weak tax collection system, factory closings, the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch, and weak world coffee prices. On the bright side, in recent years inflation has fallen to single digit levels, and total exports have grown substantially. The substantial trade deficit has been offset by remittances from the large number of Salvadorans living abroad and from external aid.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $18.1 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.2% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,100 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 12%
industry: 22%
services: 66% (1999 est.)

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

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 38.3% (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.3% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 2.35 million (1999)

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

Unemployment rate: 7.7% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.5 billion
expenditures: $1.73 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1999)

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

Industrial production growth rate: 3.5% (1999 est.)

Electricity - production: 4.1 billion kWh (1999 est.)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 49.32%
hydro: 36.46%
nuclear: 0%
other: 14.22% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 4.17 billion kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 30 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 65 million kWh (1999)

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

Exports: $2.5 billion (f.o.b., 1999)

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

Exports - partners: US 59%, Guatemala 12%, Germany 6%, Costa Rica 4%, Honduras (1998)

Imports: $4.15 billion (c.i.f., 1999)

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

Imports - partners: US 51%, Guatemala 9%, Mexico 6%, Japan 3%, Costa Rica (1999)

Debt - external: $3.3 billion (1999 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: total $252 million; $57 million from US (1999 est.)

Currency: 1 Salvadoran colon (C) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: Salvadoran colones (C) per US$1 (end of period) - 8.755 fixed rate since 1993

Fiscal year: calendar year