Merchandise trade in El Salvador
El Salvador: Merchandise trade was 66.1% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Merchandise trade in El Salvador, 1965–2025
Source: World Trade Organization (WTO). Measured in % of GDP.
Analysis
El Salvador recorded 66.1% for merchandise trade in 2025.
The figure is up 4.3% on the previous year and down 1.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, merchandise trade in El Salvador peaked at 80.4% in 2008 and was at its lowest, 37.9%, in 1989.
That places El Salvador 72nd out of 204 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 61 years of available data.
Merchandise trade in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | % of GDP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 44.4% | — |
| 1966 | 44.1% | -0.7% |
| 1967 | 44.2% | +0.1% |
| 1968 | 42.3% | -4.2% |
| 1969 | 39.1% | -7.6% |
| 1970 | 39.1% | +0.1% |
| 1971 | 40.2% | +2.8% |
| 1972 | 43.1% | +7.2% |
| 1973 | 50.5% | +17.2% |
| 1974 | 61.5% | +21.7% |
| 1975 | 60.8% | -1.2% |
| 1976 | 63.5% | +4.5% |
| 1977 | 64.6% | +1.8% |
| 1978 | 60.0% | -7.2% |
| 1979 | 65.2% | +8.8% |
| 1980 | 54.1% | -17.1% |
| 1981 | 51.9% | -4.1% |
| 1982 | 45.8% | -11.8% |
| 1983 | 46.4% | +1.3% |
| 1984 | 46.3% | -0.2% |
| 1985 | 43.2% | -6.7% |
| 1986 | 44.8% | +3.8% |
| 1987 | 40.0% | -10.6% |
| 1988 | 38.6% | -3.7% |
| 1989 | 37.9% | -1.6% |
| 1990 | 38.3% | +0.9% |
| 1991 | 40.1% | +4.6% |
| 1992 | 45.6% | +13.8% |
| 1993 | 47.6% | +4.3% |
| 1994 | 49.4% | +3.9% |
| 1995 | 55.8% | +12.9% |
| 1996 | 52.3% | -6.4% |
| 1997 | 60.2% | +15.2% |
| 1998 | 58.6% | -2.6% |
| 1999 | 58.5% | -0.2% |
| 2000 | 66.9% | +14.4% |
| 2001 | 64.2% | -4.0% |
| 2002 | 64.6% | +0.5% |
| 2003 | 67.1% | +3.8% |
| 2004 | 70.2% | +4.7% |
| 2005 | 68.8% | -2.0% |
| 2006 | 71.1% | +3.3% |
| 2007 | 75.5% | +6.2% |
| 2008 | 80.4% | +6.5% |
| 2009 | 63.6% | -20.9% |
| 2010 | 70.0% | +10.1% |
| 2011 | 75.3% | +7.6% |
| 2012 | 72.9% | -3.1% |
| 2013 | 74.0% | +1.4% |
| 2014 | 70.0% | -5.3% |
| 2015 | 67.4% | -3.7% |
| 2016 | 63.0% | -6.5% |
| 2017 | 65.4% | +3.7% |
| 2018 | 66.8% | +2.1% |
| 2019 | 65.1% | -2.4% |
| 2020 | 59.0% | -9.5% |
| 2021 | 72.3% | +22.7% |
| 2022 | 76.0% | +5.1% |
| 2023 | 66.0% | -13.2% |
| 2024 | 63.4% | -3.9% |
| 2025 | 66.1% | +4.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 42.8% | 39.1% | 44.4% | 5 |
| 1970s | 54.9% | 39.1% | 65.2% | 10 |
| 1980s | 44.9% | 37.9% | 54.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 50.6% | 38.3% | 60.2% | 10 |
| 2000s | 69.2% | 63.6% | 80.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 69.0% | 63.0% | 75.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 67.1% | 59.0% | 76.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
- 69 Kyrgyzstan 69.9% compare
- 70 Georgia 67.7% compare
- 71 Burkina Faso 67.5% compare
- 73 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 66.1% compare
- 74 Germany 65.5% compare
- 75 Azerbaijan 65.1% compare
More private sector data for El Salvador
- Food imports 20.1% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 62.0% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 17.85 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 22.9% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 70.0% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 6.43 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,010 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1751 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 1.87 % change on previous year (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$), per capita 2,804 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is merchandise trade in El Salvador?
- Merchandise trade in El Salvador was 66.1% in 2025, according to World Trade Organization (WTO).
- What is the highest merchandise trade recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 80.4% in 2008.
- What is the lowest merchandise trade recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 37.9% in 1989.
- How does El Salvador rank for merchandise trade?
- El Salvador ranks 72nd out of 204 countries with data for 2025.
- Is merchandise trade rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this El Salvador data come from?
- The figures come from World Trade Organization (WTO), published as part of Merchandise trade (% of GDP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 61 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
General merchandise trade includes goods whose economic ownership is changed between a resident and a non-resident and that are not included in the following specific categories: goods under merchanting, non-monetary gold, and parts of travel, construction, and government goods and services n.i.e. It is the total of merchandise exports plus merchandise imports. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.