Central American country of 6.3m people, governed by President Nayib Bukele since 2019. The capital is San Salvador.
El Salvador's murder rate was 51 per 100,000 in 2018 and fell to 1.9 per 100,000 by 2024, lower than in the United States. The two main gangs, Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha 13, have been dismantled through a mass incarceration campaign. The country has the world's highest incarceration rate, at 1,700 per 100,000.
The government opened the Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) in 2023, a prison with a capacity of 40,000. A "state of exception" suspending due process has been in force since 2022.
The economy relies heavily on remittances and services. Remittances are equivalent to about a quarter of GDP. Annual GDP growth hovered between 2% and 2.5% before the pandemic, rose to 3.5% in 2023, then fell to 2.6% in 2024. The IMF predicted growth of 2.5% for 2025, less than in Honduras or Guatemala. Private investment is lower than in Nicaragua.
Government debt stands at 88% of GDP, up ten percentage points since Mr Bukele came to power. In February 2025 El Salvador agreed a $1.4bn loan with the IMF, which wants the government to curb its exposure to cryptocurrency and trim spending. An "austerity budget" for 2025 entails cuts to health and education.
The percentage of the population living in poverty grew from 27% in 2019 to 30% in 2023. Public hospitals lack basic supplies including medicines and hand soap.
A record 3.9m tourists arrived in 2024, up 40% from 2019. The beach town of El Tunco has seen rapid growth in bars and restaurants catering to American visitors.
El Salvador has embraced cryptocurrency. Tether, a cryptocurrency exchange, announced it would move its headquarters to El Salvador in 2025. Google arrived in 2024 to assist with the government's "digital transformation".
Salvadorans are the second-biggest group of undocumented immigrants in the United States after Mexicans. The Trump administration proposed a 3.5% tax on remittances, which would hit El Salvador particularly hard.
The Legislative Assembly has 60 seats. As of mid-2025 there were only three opposition members. Constitutional amendments that previously required approval by two consecutive sessions with an election in between can now be made in a single sitting.
On July 31st 2025 the assembly removed presidential term limits from the constitution, allowing Mr Bukele to seek re-election indefinitely. The next presidential election was brought forward from 2029 to 2027, to coincide with legislative polls. Presidential elections can now be won with a plurality in the first round, without a run-off—making it harder for the opposition to rally round a single candidate.
Serenity through viciousness.