El Salvador accumulated $2,476.1 million in exports in April of this year, surpassing the same period in 2021 by $328.1 million, which represented a growth rate of 15.3%, reported the Central Reserve Bank (BCR).
Non-traditional goods represented 74.7% of total exports ($1,848.6 million), while traditional goods contributed 6% ($149.7 million) and maquila 19.3% ($477.8 million).
The BCR report indicates that Salvadoran sales abroad totaled $588.1 million, an amount higher than all the previous months of April since there are foreign trade records.
Coffee exports stood out in the quarter with an increase of $23.1 million, going from $53.4 million (until April 2021) to $76.6 million in the same period this year. The growth observed was 43.3% in value and 0.9% in terms of volume.
Likewise, the manufacturing industry, including maquila, reported exports of $2,364.2 million until April, $300.0 million higher than the same period in 2021, with a growth of 14.5%.
The sectors that stood out the most were the maquila manufacturing industry with $477.8 million, clothing ($431.3 million), food products ($347.2 million), the manufacture of textile products ($202.8 million) and rubber and plastic products with $186 million.
In the same scenario, the maquila industry closed the first four months of 2022 with exports worth $477.8 million and a growth of 14.8%, while knitwear, with $301.6 million (8.9% growth), and electronic condensers, with $88.2 million (15.1%), remained the main manufactured goods.
The largest buyers of Salvadoran products were the Central American countries, where a total of $1,116.5 million (45.1% of the total) was totaled, followed by the United States with $962.9 million (38.9% of the total), for which, together, they acquired 84% of Salvadoran goods.
In addition, the country’s demand for goods produced by other economies reached $5,795.7 million, with an increase of $1,216.1 million and a 26.6% growth in value. In terms of volume, 3.8% more was imported, equivalent to 137.8 million kilograms.
Purchases that El Salvador made to the world
According to its economic classification, up to April 2022, $2,111.1 million in consumer goods were imported, with a growth of 19.9%, highlighting non-durable goods with an increase of $300.5 million. On the other hand, $2,550 million of intermediate goods were imported (growth of 43.4%), while capital goods accumulated $837.5 million (3.7% growth).
On the other hand, imported information and communication technology (ICT) goods amounted to $205.9 million, of which 43.7% ($90 million) corresponded to computers and peripheral equipment, followed by communication equipment with $51.7 million (25.1% of the total).
In the case of fuels, the goods that make up the oil bill accumulated $865.3 million, registering an increase of $340.6 million, with a growth of 64.9% in value and 12.4% in kilograms (an additional 112.1 million).
Among others, gasoline increased to $110.3 million, diesel to $93.8 million, propane gas to $28.7 million, and kerosene for jet engines to $24.2 million.