El Salvador: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, El Salvador's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 67.9% on 2019 (from US$504 million to US$162 million).

Across the 21 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +5.5% and a typical year strayed about 14.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 5.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 35.8% in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 67.9% in 2020. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 15% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2020, El Salvador had the 99th highest value of the 129 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 2020 ranking

• Kyrgyz Republic — 96th of 129: US$185 million
• Bahamas, The — 97th of 129: US$166 million
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 98th of 129: US$163 million
• Zimbabwe — 100th of 129: US$157 million
• North Macedonia — 101st of 129: US$153 million
• Curaçao — 102nd of 129: US$127 million

What this measures

International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Limitations: Tourism can be either domestic or international. The data refers to international tourism, where the traveler's country of residence differs from the visiting country. International tourism consists of inbound (arrival) and outbound (departures) tourism. The data are from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a United Nations agency. The data on inbound and outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures, not to the number of people traveling. Expenditure associated with the activity of international visitors has been traditionally identified with the travel item of the Balance of Payments (BOP).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 24 values

International tourism, expenditures (current US$) in nearby economies

• Argentina — US$2.75 billion (2020)
• Aruba — US$310 million (2020)
• Bahamas, The — US$166 million (2020)
• Barbados — US$99 million (2016)
• Belize — US$22.04 million (2020)
• Bolivia — US$325 million (2020)
• Brazil — US$6.49 billion (2020)
• Cayman Islands — US$299 million (2019)
• Chile — US$720 million (2020)
• Colombia

More private sector & trade data for El Salvador

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$17.85 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$6.43 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 44.76% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America & the Caribbean (% of total merchandise imports) — 34.98% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.01% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$15.63 billion (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies within region (% of total merchandise imports) — 34.98% (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is El Salvador's international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$162 million in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 63.64% from US$99 million in 1995 (1.99% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$504 million in 2019 and the lowest US$99 million in 1995.

How does El Salvador rank?

99th highest of 129 economies with data for 2020.

Is the latest change in international tourism, expenditures (current US$) unusual for El Salvador?

In 2020, El Salvador's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 67.9% on 2019 (from US$504 million to US$162 million). Across the 21 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +5.5% and a typical year strayed about 14.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 5.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ST.INT.XPND.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism 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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