According to the second quarterly economic and regulatory performance report, presented by the Asociación Salvadoreña de Industriales (ASI), as of may of this year, total exports showed a value of US$2,697.8 million, registering a growth of 41.8%, equivalent to US$795.2 million more than in 2020.

In addition, accumulated exports to may 2021 from the manufacturing industry represented 96.1% of the country's total exports.

This totaled US$2,591.5 million, that is, an improvement of 43.9% registering US$790.7 million more with respect to 2020, and the main countries to which El Salvador exports, accumulated to may 2021 are: United States of America 40.2%; Guatemala 17.0%, and Honduras 15.5%.

As for the contribution in total exports of some of the industrial sectors accumulated to may of this year according to data from the Banco Central de Reserva (BCR), are:

Textile and apparel sector accounted for 39.7%; Food sector 7.7%; Plastics sector, 7.4%; Paper, Cardboard and Graphic Arts, 6.0%; Sugar Agroindustry, 5.7%, Metalworking, 4.3%, Pharmaceutical, 2.9%; Beverages, 2.1%; Furniture, 0.6%; Footwear, 0.3% and Cement 0.03%.

The report presented by the trade association also states that, in terms of economic growth, the average projection for Central America as of july 2021 is 5.3% and it is expected to be 4.0% by 2022, based on data from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

In addition, by country in the region, the projected behavior is as follows: Guatemala, 4.6% for 2021 and 4.0% for 2022; In the case of Honduras, 5% for the current year and 3.6% for 2022.

In the case of Panama, 12% in 2021, 8.2% in 2022; for Costa Rica, 3.2% this year and 3.5% in 2021. Nicaragua is projected at 2% in 2021 and 1.8% next year, and in the case of El Salvador, 5% in 2021 and 3% in 2022.

In the case of El Salvador, according to other international organizations, growth projections range from 4.1% to 4.2%, while the Banco Central de Reserva (BCR) projects 5% to 6%.

The report highlights that the amount of accumulated imports to may 2021 is US$5,739.7 million plus 43.9%, US$1,751.4 million more than accumulated to may 2020).

While industrial imports in the same period are: US$5,406.9 million plus 45.7%, US$1,696.0 million more than accumulated to may 2020, and the participation of Industry in imports accumulated to May 2021 was 94.2%.

The guild also referred to the imports of capital goods of the manufacturing industry accumulated to may 2021, it is US$259.2 million plus 834.4%, plus US$231.5 million more than accumulated to may 2020.

The report also explains that, in terms of gross government debt, according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) El Salvador shows that, in 2021, it has 88.2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and is projected to be 93.3% in 2022.