El Salvador's gross national expenditure (% of GDP) was 124.06% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 6.48 percentage points from 117.59% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 124.06% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 117.41% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 117.59% | 2015 |
| Highest | 127.18% | 2008 |
| Lowest | 99.03% | 1972 |
| Average since 2016 | 119.82% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 102.42% | 1965 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, El Salvador's gross national expenditure (% of GDP) rose 3.7 percentage points on 2024 (from 120.36% to 124.06%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.73 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 9.96 percentage points in 1978 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.09 percentage points in 1979. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.94 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 65% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, El Salvador had the 11th highest value of the 130 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
Closest to El Salvador in the 2025 ranking
What this measures
Gross national expenditure is the sum of household final consumption expenditure, general government final consumption expenditure, and gross capital formation. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.
All 61 values
| Year | Gross national expenditure (% of GDP) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 124.06 |
| 2024 | 120.36 |
| 2023 | 122.23 |
| 2022 | 123.83 |
| 2021 | 124.28 |
| 2020 | 117.41 |
| 2019 | 116.13 |
| 2018 | 117.76 |
| 2017 | 116.25 |
| 2016 | 115.9 |
| 2015 |
Gross national expenditure (% of GDP) in nearby economies
More economic policy & debt data for El Salvador
- Total reserves, including gold (current US$) — US$4.82 billion (2025)
- Total reserves, excluding gold (current US$) — US$4.56 billion (2025)
- Grants, excluding technical cooperation (BoP, current US$) — US$252.5 million (2023)
- Technical cooperation grants (BoP, current US$) — US$35.19 million (2023)
- Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Japan (current US$) — US$41.44 million (2023)
- Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, Total (current US$) — US$362.85 million (2023)
- Net bilateral aid flows from DAC donors, United States (current US$) — US$154.63 million (2023)
- Net official development assistance and official aid received (current US$) — US$498.81 million (2023)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is El Salvador's gross national expenditure (% of GDP)?
- 124.06% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1965?
- It is up 21.64 percentage points from 102.42% in 1965. The highest value was 127.18% in 2008 and the lowest 99.03% in 1972.
- How does El Salvador rank?
- 11th highest of 130 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in gross national expenditure (% of GDP) unusual for El Salvador?
- In 2025, El Salvador's gross national expenditure (% of GDP) rose 3.7 percentage points on 2024 (from 120.36% to 124.06%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.17 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.73 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator NE.DAB.TOTL.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Country official statistics, National Statistical Organizations and/or Central Banks; National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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