El Salvador Trade Gap Widens in August

2026-09-24 23:27 By Joshua Ferrer 1 min. read

El Salvador’s trade deficit widened to $1.15 billion in August 2026 from $875.4 million a year earlier, as imports rose while exports declined.

Imports increased 17.5% year-on-year to $1.64 billion, while exports fell 6% to $492.6 million.

Import growth was broad-based, led by consumer goods, which rose about 23%, and intermediate goods, up nearly 19%, while capital-goods imports increased about 5%.

Exports were weighed by non-maquila shipments, which fell about 8%, partly offset by a roughly 8% increase in maquila exports.

Coffee exports were about $12 million in August, little changed from a year earlier, while sugar exports fell to about $8.5 million from $14.7 million.



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El Salvador Trade Gap Widens in August
El Salvador’s trade deficit widened to $1.15 billion in August 2026 from $875.4 million a year earlier, as imports rose while exports declined. Imports increased 17.5% year-on-year to $1.64 billion, while exports fell 6% to $492.6 million. Import growth was broad-based, led by consumer goods, which rose about 23%, and intermediate goods, up nearly 19%, while capital-goods imports increased about 5%. Exports were weighed by non-maquila shipments, which fell about 8%, partly offset by a roughly 8% increase in maquila exports. Coffee exports were about $12 million in August, little changed from a year earlier, while sugar exports fell to about $8.5 million from $14.7 million.
2026-09-24
El Salvador Trade Deficit Widens in July
El Salvador’s trade deficit widened to $1.19 billion in July 2026 from $1.10 billion a year earlier, as imports grew faster than exports. Imports rose 7.2% year-on-year to $1.83 billion, driven by a 14.5% increase in purchases from Central America, while imports from outside the region increased 6%. Exports rose 6% to $636 million, mainly supported by traditional exports, which surged 43.6%. Sugar shipments jumped 1,617.5%, more than offsetting a 1.7% decline in coffee sales. Exports to Central America increased 7.4%, while shipments to markets outside the region fell 0.6%.
2026-08-28
El Salvador Trade Deficit Widens in June
El Salvador's trade deficit widened to $1,030.96 million on June 2026 from $856.96 million in the same month a year earlier. Imports rose 16.5% year-on-year to $1,628.1 million, driven by purchases from Central America (4.7%), mainly Costa Rica, and Panama (63.5%). Meanwhile, exports rose at a slower pace of 10.5% to $597.2 million, supported by shipments to the UK (38%), Ecuador (25.2%) and Mexico (24.2%). In the January–June 2026 period, the trade deficit widened to $5,919.1 million from $5,302.4 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.
2026-07-27