COUNTRY NOTES
EL SALVADOR
Recent trends
El Salvador has made improvements in the last decades in health and education. The country’s infant
mortality rate (12.5 per 1 000 live births) is below the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) average (14.7), although
far from the OECD average (5.7). Concurrently, life expectancy at birth has increased to 73.5 from 64 in 1990, in
line with the LAC average of 75.6, and the maternal mortality ratio has improved to 54 per 100 000 live births,
below the LAC average (74.4). The country’s net secondary enrolment rate also improved between 2000-16 from
48.2% to 64.3%.
El Salvador’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increased by more than one-and-a-half times between
1990 and 2017. However, the country remains among the worst performers in LAC in terms of poverty reduction,
environmental conditions and citizens’ security. The share of the population living on less than USD 5.5 a day
(2011 PPP) decreased from 45% to 30.7% in 2004-16. During the same period, however, the share of the vulnerable
population living on USD 5.5-13 a day (2011 PPP) increased from 36% to 47%. Additionally, El Salvador’s homicide
rate was the highest in the region in 2015, with 105.4 homicides per 100 000 inhabitants. Between 2000-15,
forest area shrank by 20.2% and mean annual exposure to PM2.5 air pollution is 33.4 micrograms per cubic
metre.
National strategies and international co-operation for development
The Plan “El Salvador: productivo, educado y seguro” 2014-19 [El Salvador: Productive, Educated and
Safe, 2014-19] has a focal point in the philosophy of “Buen Vivir” [Good Living], with an emphasis on the
consolidation of democracy and the construction of a state of law. The plan’s three priorities of productive
employment, education and effective citizen security are translated into 11 objectives, with special attention
to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) and SDG 11 (sustainable cities
and communities). The first and seventh objectives focus on the economy and respect for the environment.
Policies under these objectives foresee production diversification and improving competitiveness of micro,
small and medium enterprises. They also envision energy sources diversification, with priority given to
renewables and the integrated management of the hydric system.
The Development Plan also tackles social inclusion and equitable access to quality public services. These
include projects for the modernisation of educational institutions and improvement in school attendance,
the creation of the National Integrated Health System and the consolidation of the Universal Social Security
System. Moreover, El Salvador adopted a national Multidimensional Poverty Index in 2015. It consists of five
dimensions (childhood and adolescence; housing; access to work; health and food security; and habitat) and
four indicators for each dimension collected with the Encuesta de Hogares de Propósitos Múltiples [Multipurpose
Household Survey].
At the heart of the plan remain the increase in citizen security, the use of national culture to achieve social
cohesion and a state focused on its citizens and driven by results. These objectives may lead to policies to
strengthen local police, the programme “Yo Cambio” [I Change] for safe prisons and the National Defence System.
In terms of public financing capacities, El Salvador’s total tax revenues were 17.9% of GDP in 2016 (vs. 22.7%
in LAC and 34.3% in the OECD). El Salvador signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative
Assistance in Tax Matters in 2015, but the latter has not entered into force.
El Salvador’s international co-operation priorities at the national, regional and global levels are aligned with
the Five-Year Development Plan 2014-19. Priority areas for international co-operation projects include social
protection, such as labor market interventions on young population, social insurance, social assistance, public
health and education; economic growth, regional integration and trade; and security and crime prevention.
As a recipient of international co-operation, the country’s most frequent partners are Spain, Luxembourg, the
United States, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, the European Union and the United Nations System. As a provider
of South-South Co-operation, El Salvador collaborates with the majority of the countries in LAC.
The government launched the strategies set out in the Plan “El Salvador Seguro” [A Safe El Salvador] in
partnership with the United States in 2016. Among them, it includes the integration of the National Council for
Citizen Security and Coexistence (CNSCC in Spanish). These actions are being implemented together with the
other countries of the Northern Triangle (Honduras and Guatemala). In co-operation with Japan, El Salvador
aims to develop an institutional framework between 2016-21 to ensure integrated management of the Olomega
and El Jocotal Lagoons, as a model approach, to promote conservation and wise use of wetlands in El Salvador.
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COUNTRY NOTES
Key Indicators
El Salvador LAC [1] OECD [2]
Income and productivity
2007 2017 2007 2017 2007 2017
GDP per capita, PPP (constant 2011 international USD) [3] 6 253 7 292 12 603 12 970 38 972 39 586
Labour productivity relative to OECD (%) [4] 24.0 22.3 38.3 36.8 100 100
Households and NPISHs final consumption expenditure per capita 2 816 2 874 4 305 5 491 22 098 20 441
(constant 2010 USD) [3]
2006 2016 2006 2016 2006 2016
Economic Complexity Index [5] -0.1 0.1 -0.3 -0.3 1.1 1.1
El Salvador LAC OECD
Average annual change in total factor productivity, 2000-17 (%) [6] NA -0.7 0.1
El Salvador LAC OECD
Social vulnerabilities
2007 2016 2007 2016 2007 2016
Share of people living in poverty, less than USD 5.50 a day (2011 PPP) (%) [7] 39.2 30.7 34.9 24.0 NA NA
Share of people living in vulnerability, USD 5.50-13.00 a day (2011 PPP) (%) [7] 41.4 47.0 35.5 36.5 NA NA
Life expectancy at birth (years) [3] 71.0 73.5 73.7 75.6 78.7 80.1
Mean years of schooling (population at 25 and older) [8] 5.8 6.9 7.4 8.6 11.0 11.8
Net enrolment rate, secondary level (%) [9] 56.6 64.3 66.6 74.4 78.7 90.3
2007 2017 2007 2017 2007 2017
Share of population that did not have enough money for food in past 12 months (%) [10] 47.0 43.0 34.8 44.3 12.0 13.0
Gini index [3] 45.2 40.0 50.8 46.2 32.7 36.5
Share of workers in vulnerable employment (% of total employment) [11] 39.0 36.0 32.6 31.0 12.8 12.6
Infant mortality rate (per 1 000 live births) [3] 19.1 12.5 19.4 14.7 7.9 5.7
2007 2015 2007 2015 2007 2015
Maternal mortality ratio (deaths per 100 000 live births) [3] 62.0 54.0 87.1 74.4 19.0 14.0
2009 2015 2009 2015 2009 2015
Mean PISA score in science performance [12] NA NA 406 412 501 493
2018 2018 2018
Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) (%) [12] 22.9 24.6 17.3
Environment El Salvador LAC OECD
Change in forest area, 2000-15 (%) [3] -20.2 -1.2 0.8
2005 2016 2005 2016 2005 2016
PM2.5 air pollution, mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic metre) [3] 38.7 33.4 24.7 20.3 15.1 14.9
2007 2014 2007 2014 2007 2014
CO2 emissions (kilograms per PPP USD of GDP) [3] 0.19 0.14 0.25 0.23 0.32 0.24
2007 2017 2007 2017 2007 2017
Share of population satisfied with air quality (%) [10] 76.0 65.0 74.0 73.2 74.0 79.0
Share of population satisfied with water quality (%) [10] 70.0 63.0 75.0 70.8 78.0 84.0
Institutions and perceptions about public services El Salvador LAC OECD
2007 2016 2007 2016 2007 2016
Total tax revenue as a share of GDP (%) [12] 15.4 17.9 20.8 22.7 33.7 34.3
2006 2017 2006 2017 2006 2017
Share of population satisfied with the educational system (%) [10] 83.0 66.0 68.1 65.0 64.0 68.0
2007 2017 2007 2017 2007 2017
Share of population that believes in honesty in elections (%) [10] 27.0 22.0 36.9 34.9 53.0 60.0
Share of population that thinks corruption is widespread throughout government (%) [10] 69.0 72.0 72.9 74.5 60.0 54.0
Share of population with confidence in national government (%) [10] 37.0 27.0 40.9 36.1 41.0 45.0
Share of population satisfied with roads (%) [10] 64.0 66.0 54.4 53.4 61.0 66.0
Share of urban population satisfied with the availability of quality healthcare (%) [10] 60.0 47.0 55.5 49.9 69.0 69.0
Share of population satisfied with standard of living (%) [10] 63.0 75.0 68.6 69.3 73.0 77.0
Share of population that feels safe walking alone at night (%) [10] 46.0 46.0 46.8 46.2 61.0 72.0
2007 2015 2007 2015 2007 2015
Homicide rate (per 100 000 inhabitants) [3] 57.5 105.4 23.7 21.9 2.0 1.8
Sources, footnotes and technical details can be found at the end of the country notes.
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LATIN AMERICAN ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2019 © OECD/UNITED NATIONS/CAF/EU 2019
From:
Latin American Economic Outlook 2019
Development in Transition
Access the complete publication at:
https://doi.org/10.1787/g2g9ff18-en
Please cite this chapter as:
OECD, et al. (2019), “El Salvador”, in Latin American Economic Outlook 2019: Development in Transition,
OECD Publishing, Paris.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1787/a68eb331-en
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