El Salvador: Total reserves in months of imports

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, El Salvador's total reserves in months of imports rose 16.7% on 2024 (from 2.1 to 2.45).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.3% and a typical year strayed about 18.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 50.6% in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 33.2% in 2022. 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 downward, about 0.17 a year. A straight line explains 54% 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 86th highest value of the 112 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

• St. Lucia — 83rd of 112: 2.99
• Ecuador — 84th of 112: 2.84
• United States — 85th of 112: 2.8
• West Bank and Gaza — 87th of 112: 2.35
• Sweden — 88th of 112: 2.16
• Viet Nam — 89th of 112: 2.08

What this measures

Reserve assets are external assets, including monetary gold, that are readily available to and controlled by monetary authorities for meeting balance of payments financing needs, for intervention in exchange markets to affect the currency exchange rate, and for other related purposes (such as maintaining confidence in the currency and the economy, and serving as a basis for foreign borrowing). Reserve assets must be denominated and settled in foreign currency. This item is expressed in terms of the number of months of imports of goods and services they could pay for [X/(Imports/12)].

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 50 values

Total reserves in months of imports in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 3 (2025)
• Argentina — 4.03 (2025)
• Aruba — 5.82 (2023)
• Bahamas, The — 3.95 (2024)
• Barbados — 1.26 (2017)
• Belize — 3.49 (2025)
• Bolivia — 0.51 (2025)
• Brazil — 8.42 (2025)
• Chile — 4.22 (2025)
• Colombia — 7.27 (2025)
• Costa Rica

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

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Questions people ask

What is El Salvador's total reserves in months of imports?

2.45 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1976?

It is down 26.38% from 3.33 in 1976 (0.62% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 5.65 in 1999 and the lowest 1.58 in 2022.

How does El Salvador rank?

86th highest of 112 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in total reserves in months of imports unusual for El Salvador?

In 2025, El Salvador's total reserves in months of imports rose 16.7% on 2024 (from 2.1 to 2.45). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.3% and a typical year strayed about 18.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.9 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FI.RES.TOTL.MO, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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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