Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic blow it meant for all nations, El Salvador experienced a rapid economic recovery in 2021 in most sectors; this was also accompanied by development.

The Salvadoran Chamber of Construction (Casalco) confirmed that the growth projections for the fourth quarter of last year ranged between 6 and 7%, although the closing data has not yet been published.

The executive director of Casalco, José Velásquez, explained at the inauguration of a housing project in Santa Tecla that after some work was stopped in 2020, when the pandemic reached its most critical moments, the following year the sector began executing mitigation projects and thus resumed activity.

“This project that we have next door, which is called Vas del Carmen, was precisely one of those that was stopped by the pandemic and that was carried out in 2021. So, employment has recovered, and right now we remain at stable levels” — Velasquez stressed.

On the other hand, he highlighted that in 2021, around 22,500 direct jobs were reported in the construction sector, which were registered with the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS). However, according to data from the Chamber, the number of people hired reaches 100,000 with the positions generated indirectly.

«We can assume that there are 100,000 jobs that are generated around construction as such. We can add the annexed businesses, the supply chain, to the direct ones, making three indirect ones for each direct one”

Velásquez assures that the growth projections for this year are similar to those of the previous year. Likewise, according to the numbers of the union, $1,200 million in public and private investment is expected for 2022.