El Salvador’s trade deficit narrowed to USD 799.23 million in January 2026 from USD 905.30 million a year earlier. Imports fell 4.39% to USD 1.36 billion, driven by a 1.54% decrease in maquila goods, with purchases from outside Central America down 5.81% and those from the region up 1.73%. Exports rose 8.46% to USD 559.4 million, as traditional goods sales surged 154.94% and non traditional exports rose 0.91%. Sales to markets outside Central America rose 0.14%, while exports to the region rose 1.42%. source: Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador

El Salvador recorded a trade deficit of 799.23 USD Million in January of 2026. Balance of Trade in El Salvador averaged -351.47 USD Million from 1991 until 2026, reaching an all time high of -14.62 USD Million in March of 1991 and a record low of -1110.90 USD Million in December of 2025. This page provides the latest reported value for - El Salvador Balance of Trade - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. El Salvador Balance of Trade - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on March of 2026.



Calendar GMT Reference Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2026-01-27 11:00 PM
Balance of Trade
Dec $-1,110.9M $-989.86M
2026-02-24 11:00 PM
Balance of Trade
Jan $-799.23M $-1110.9M
2026-03-20 06:00 PM
Balance of Trade
Feb $-799.23M $-650.0M


Related Last Previous Unit Reference
Balance of Trade -799.23 -1110.90 USD Million Jan 2026
Capital Flows 742.65 -154.27 USD Million Sep 2025
Current Account -97.78 94.14 USD Million Sep 2025
Exports 559.40 465.77 USD Million Jan 2026
External Debt 3746.40 26145.09 USD Million Sep 2025
Imports 1358.63 1576.66 USD Million Jan 2026
Remittances 759.45 961.12 USD Million Jan 2026


El Salvador Balance of Trade
El Salvador's systemic trade deficit is mostly explained by the country's need to import fuels (17 percent of total imports), machinery and electronic equipment (13 percent). Textiles is the country's major export being 29 percent of total exports, followed by chemicals, rubber and plastics, metallic products and sugar. The leading trading partner is the United States with 39 percent of exports and 30 percent of imports, followed by Guatemala (17 percent of exports and 10 percent of imports) and Honduras (17 percent of exports and 6 percent of imports). Others include: Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Brazil.
Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-799.23 -1110.90 -14.62 -1110.90 1991 - 2026 USD Million Monthly

News Stream
El Salvador Trade Deficit Narrows in January
El Salvador’s trade deficit narrowed to USD 799.23 million in January 2026 from USD 905.30 million a year earlier. Imports fell 4.39% to USD 1.36 billion, driven by a 1.54% decrease in maquila goods, with purchases from outside Central America down 5.81% and those from the region up 1.73%. Exports rose 8.46% to USD 559.4 million, as traditional goods sales surged 154.94% and non traditional exports rose 0.91%. Sales to markets outside Central America rose 0.14%, while exports to the region rose 1.42%.
2026-02-25
El Salvador Trade Deficit Widens in December
El Salvador’s trade deficit widened to USD 1.11 billion in December 2025 from USD 945.68 million a year earlier. Imports rose 14.62% to USD 1.58 billion, driven by a 1.26% increase in manufacturing goods, with purchases from outside Central America up 15.5% and those from the region up 12.21%. Exports rose 8.33% to USD 465.8 million, as traditional goods sales surged 58.8% and non traditional exports rose 7.7%. Sales to markets outside Central America surged 17.4%, while exports to the region rose 1.4%.
2026-01-28
El Salvador Trade Deficit Widens in November
El Salvador’s trade deficit widened to USD 989.9 million in November 2025 from USD 837.4 million a year earlier. Imports rose 8.75% to USD 1.51 billion, driven by a 13.16% increase in manufacturing goods, with purchases from outside Central America up 9.28% and those from the region up 5.76%. Exports fell 5.53% to USD 524.7 million, as coffee shipments plunged 50.29% and sugar exports dropped 56.94%. Sales to markets outside Central America declined 13.83%, while exports to the region edged down 0.41%.
2025-12-22