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El Salvador registered a year-on-year real depreciation of 1.61% in the bilateral Tipo de Cambio Efectivo Real (ITCER) with the United States during may 2026, according to the most recent report from the Executive Secretariat of the Secretaría Ejecutiva del Consejo Monetario Centroamericano (SECMCA). This result indicates an improvement in the country’s relative competitiveness against its main trading partner.
The ITCER is an indicator that measures the competitiveness of an economy by comparing the evolution of domestic prices and the exchange rate with those of a partner country. A real depreciation means that domestic goods and services can become more competitive against foreign ones, favoring exports.
According to the SECMCA, the may result reflects that El Salvador maintains favorable conditions to compete in the US market, the destination of a significant portion of its national exports.
The report also shows that, during may 2026, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic were the only countries in the region that registered real appreciations in the bilateral ITCER with the United States, while El Salvador and the rest of the Central American economies experienced real depreciations.
For reference, in april 2026, El Salvador had registered a real depreciation of 1.58%, so the may figure demonstrates that this favorable trend for competitiveness remained practically stable.
The Secretaría Ejecutiva del Consejo Monetario Centroamericano publishes this indicator periodically to assess the evolution of the competitiveness of the region’s economies and provide a benchmark for their trade performance vis-à-vis their main international partners.
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