Browse Data and Analysis

By the end of 2023, El Salvador's hotel and restaurant sectors showed strong growth, reflecting the full recovery of its tourism industry. According to the latest Euromonitor data, Salvadorans spent $2.6 billion in the hotels and catering sector in 2023.

On October 1, 2019, El Salvador agreed to harmonize the biosafety technical regulation for “modified living organisms” for agricultural use with Guatemala and Honduras and designated the Ministry of Agriculture as the National Competent Authority to provide authorizations and keep registries related to biotechnology.

This report provides examples of the significant export certificates and other documents required by the government of El Salvador for U.S. exports of food and agricultural products.

Since August 7, 2024, the Superintendence for Sanitary Regulation has been responsible for food and beverage product registration in El Salvador.

In 2023, U.S. agriculture exports to El Salvador reached $860 million, a slight drop of 12 percent compared to 2022 due mainly to lower wheat and oil seeds imports. However, the consumer-oriented products category saw a promising increase from $349 million to $364 million, marking a 4.4 percent growth.

El Salvador's coffee production is expected to reach 555,000 sixty-kg-bags in marketing year (MY) 2023/24. The Salvadoran coffee sector continues to be affected by climate vulnerability and an absent long-term strategy.

Sugar production in marketing year (MY) 24 is estimated at 787,000 metric tons (MT), while production for MY23 reached 765,000 MT. Continued international prices have eased the financial burden exerted by the high cost of inputs on the sugar sector.

In 2022, El Salvador imported $973 million of agricultural products from the United States, out of which about $283 million were consumer oriented.

El Salvador’s food manufacturing sector has kept a fast pace in terms of increasing production levels. Food manufacturers took the challenging environment caused by the pandemic as an opportunity to evolve and add new items to their food lines.

This report provides initial analysis and a courtesy translation of El Salvador’s Transitory Law to Combat Price Inflation in Basic Products, published March 11, 2022, with an import duties comparison added for reference.