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El Salvador positioned itself as the best-performing economy in Central America and the Dominican Republic, registering 5.4% growth in the Economic Activity Index for may 2016, according to the most recent report from the Secretaría Ejecutiva del Consejo Monetario Centroamericano (SECMCA). This result placed the country above the regional average, which was 3.7% for that month.
The salvadoran indicator also surpassed the results registered by the other economies analyzed. The Dominican Republic reached 4.7% and Guatemala 3.9%, while Costa Rica showed growth of 2.5%, Honduras 1.8%, and Nicaragua 0.9%. Thus, El Salvador led the region’s monthly performance with a significant difference compared to several of its neighbors.
The behavior of economic activity reflects the pace at which sectors dedicated to the production of goods and services evolve. In El Salvador, the result was primarily driven by the dynamism of the construction, trade, and real estate sectors, which have become increasingly important drivers of the national economy’s expansion.
Construction stood out in particular, growing by 10.5% in may and accumulating 12.5% growth between january and may. This sector’s performance was complemented by trade, transportation, storage, accommodation, and food services, which together grew by 5.6% during the first five months of the year.
Other sectors also showed positive results during the period. Real estate activities grew by 4.8%, the Industrial Production Index (IPI) advanced by 4.2%, while public administration, education, health, and social assistance registered an increase of 4.0%. Financial and insurance activities also grew, by 3.5%, as did professional, scientific, and technical activities, by 2.7%.
This cumulative performance also keeps El Salvador in first place regionally. Between january and may 2026, the country’s economic activity index registered a growth of 4.8%, surpassing Guatemala, which reached 4.4%, the Dominican Republic with 4.2%, Costa Rica with 4%, Nicaragua with 3.9%, and Honduras with 3.3%.
This result also represents an improvement compared to the performance observed a year earlier. In may 2025, El Salvador had registered growth of 2.6%, so the 5.4% reported for may 2026 demonstrates an acceleration of economic activity. However, the performance was not uniform across all sectors, as agriculture, forestry, and fishing accumulated a variation of -0.6% in the first five months.
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