Travel services in El Salvador
El Salvador: Travel services was 35.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Travel services in El Salvador, 1976–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service imports.
Analysis
El Salvador recorded 35.4% for travel services in 2025.
That represents a change of up 8.9% on the previous year and up 76.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in El Salvador peaked at 42.2% in 1980 and was at its lowest, 10.0%, in 2020.
That places El Salvador 42nd out of 198 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 50 years of available data.
Travel services in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 27.1% | — |
| 1977 | 29.3% | +8.2% |
| 1978 | 41.9% | +42.8% |
| 1979 | 41.8% | -0.3% |
| 1980 | 42.2% | +1.1% |
| 1981 | 27.4% | -35.2% |
| 1982 | 37.7% | +37.6% |
| 1983 | 36.2% | -3.9% |
| 1984 | 32.3% | -10.9% |
| 1985 | 32.9% | +2.1% |
| 1986 | 28.0% | -15.0% |
| 1987 | 28.0% | -0.1% |
| 1988 | 22.8% | -18.6% |
| 1989 | 28.4% | +24.8% |
| 1990 | 20.5% | -27.7% |
| 1991 | 18.5% | -10.1% |
| 1992 | 16.6% | -9.9% |
| 1993 | 16.4% | -1.2% |
| 1994 | 17.2% | +4.8% |
| 1995 | 14.9% | -13.7% |
| 1996 | 15.1% | +1.8% |
| 1997 | 24.1% | +59.7% |
| 1998 | 24.0% | -0.7% |
| 1999 | 20.5% | -14.3% |
| 2000 | 17.4% | -15.0% |
| 2001 | 20.0% | +14.5% |
| 2002 | 18.5% | -7.2% |
| 2003 | 21.3% | +14.8% |
| 2004 | 16.2% | -24.0% |
| 2005 | 18.9% | +16.5% |
| 2006 | 18.6% | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 21.6% | +16.2% |
| 2008 | 18.8% | -12.7% |
| 2009 | 19.6% | +4.0% |
| 2010 | 20.8% | +5.9% |
| 2011 | 17.6% | -15.3% |
| 2012 | 20.0% | +13.9% |
| 2013 | 16.9% | -15.5% |
| 2014 | 17.5% | +3.3% |
| 2015 | 20.0% | +14.4% |
| 2016 | 24.0% | +20.0% |
| 2017 | 23.2% | -3.3% |
| 2018 | 23.0% | -0.8% |
| 2019 | 24.3% | +5.6% |
| 2020 | 10.0% | -58.9% |
| 2021 | 12.6% | +25.7% |
| 2022 | 21.4% | +70.3% |
| 2023 | 27.6% | +28.6% |
| 2024 | 32.5% | +17.8% |
| 2025 | 35.4% | +8.9% |
El Salvador compared with similar countries
- El Salvador's 35.4% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 23.2%, 1.5× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- El Salvador's 35.4% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 20.0%, 1.8× the median. (37 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 35.0% | 27.1% | 41.9% | 4 |
| 1980s | 31.6% | 22.8% | 42.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 18.8% | 14.9% | 24.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 19.1% | 16.2% | 21.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.7% | 16.9% | 24.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.2% | 10.0% | 35.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
More private sector data for El Salvador
- Merchandise trade 66.1% (2025)
- 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)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in El Salvador?
- Travel services in El Salvador was 35.4% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 42.2% in 1980.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 10.0% in 2020.
- How does El Salvador rank for travel services?
- El Salvador ranks 42nd out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is up 76.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this El Salvador data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Travel services (% of commercial service imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.