El Salvador: Current account, percent of GDP

The latest value from 2024 is -1.79 percent, a decline from -1.09 percent in 2023. In comparison, the world average is -0.34 percent, based on data from 148 countries. Historically, the average for El Salvador from 1976 to 2024 is -2.63 percent. The minimum value, -8.91 percent, was reached in 1978 while the maximum of 3.43 percent was recorded in 1987. See the global rankings or world map for that indicator or use the country comparator to compare trends over time.

The current account of El Salvador and other countries has three components: 1) the exports of goods and services minus the imports of goods and services; 2) the difference of incomes that countries pay to each other; and 3) the difference in transfers that countries make to each other. Current account deficits are reported with a minus sign and surpluses are reported with a plus sign.

A current account deficit means that the country needs to find financing for its imports. The foreign currencies it receives from selling products abroad are not enough to pay for the products it wants to buy from other countries. The needed amounts of foreign currencies can be obtained by, for example, borrowing. For instance, in the last several years the U.S. has been borrowing money from China in order to buy Chinese products.

This is not necessarily a problem. The current account deficit starts to be a problem if it exceeds 3-4 percent of GDP for many years. Over that time, the country accumulates a significant amount of foreign debt that eventually has to be repaid.

Definition: Balance of current transactions (transactions in goods and services, earned income and transfer income) between residents and non-residents. The term current account balance is used in the external accounts and is expressed from the perspective of resident units. The term current external balance is used in the national accounts and is expressed from the perspective of the non-resident units, and therefore with the opposite sign. 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.