Summary
- Largest supplier: United States
- 27%
- Concentration (HHI)
- 1,251
- Products with a supplier above 50%
- 312
- Products with a supplier above 75%
- 92
Concentration index (HHI): 1,251 out of 10,000; equivalent to splitting purchases among 8 suppliers of the same size
Trend
Trend in shares
The United States went from 42.4% to 27% of what El Salvador buys
Share (%)
- United States 27%
- China 16.7%
- Guatemala 10.3%
- Mexico 8.3%
- Honduras 4.6%
Source: CEPII BACI
Show the numbers
| Year | Largest supplier | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | United States | 42.4% |
| 1996 | United States | 38.4% |
| 1997 | United States | 43.5% |
| 1998 | United States | 33% |
| 1999 | United States | 33.9% |
| 2000 | United States | 41.2% |
| 2001 | United States | 42% |
| 2002 | United States | 40.9% |
| 2003 | United States | 40.9% |
| 2004 | United States | 37.7% |
| 2005 | United States | 33.5% |
| 2006 | United States | 31.3% |
| 2007 | United States | 30.4% |
| 2008 | United States | 30% |
| 2009 | United States | 30.7% |
| 2010 | United States | 31% |
| 2011 | United States | 30.9% |
| 2012 | United States | 30.2% |
| 2013 | United States | 33.3% |
| 2014 | United States | 34.3% |
| 2015 | United States | 32.1% |
| 2016 | United States | 31.3% |
| 2017 | United States | 30.1% |
| 2018 | United States | 29.9% |
| 2019 | United States | 28.7% |
| 2020 | United States | 25.9% |
| 2021 | United States | 27.6% |
| 2022 | United States | 29.3% |
| 2023 | United States | 28.2% |
| 2024 | United States | 27% |
Its suppliers
Products with a dominant supplier
Of the 652 products El Salvador buys for more than $1 million in 2024, these are the highest-value ones with a dominant supplier.
| Product | Supplier | Share | Second | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refined petroleum | United States | 92.7%over 75% | Ecuador · 3.5% | $1.7 billion |
| Natural gas and LPG | United States | 59.4% | Trinidad and Tobago · 27.6% | $624 million |
| Cameras and broadcast equipment | China | 64.5% | Vietnam · 25.2% | $355 million |
| Airplanes and helicopters | France | 99.3%over 75% | United States · 0.66% | $242 million |
| Cheese | Nicaragua | 71.2% | United States · 13.1% | $209 million |
| Polyethers, polyesters and epoxy resins | China | 62.2% | Honduras · 8.7% | $199 million |
| Corn | United States | 65.3% | Brazil · 26.1% | $195 million |
| Computers | China | 78.1%over 75% | Mexico · 8.4% | $174 million |
| T-shirts | Honduras | 82%over 75% | Nicaragua · 7.1% | $166 million |
| Fresh beef | Nicaragua | 97.9%over 75% | Honduras · 0.78% | $150 million |
| Coated flat steel | China | 61.6% | South Korea · 8.1% | $121 million |
| Polyethylene | United States | 59.9% | Mexico · 29.2% | $117 million |
| Soybean meal and pellets | United States | 81%over 75% | Paraguay · 15.1% | $111 million |
| Alloy steel sheet | South Korea | 84.6%over 75% | Japan · 9.7% | $98 million |
| Monitors and projectors | Mexico | 54.6% | China · 37.5% | $96 million |
| Raw cotton | United States | 98.3%over 75% | Guatemala · 1.1% | $94 million |
| Synthetic filament yarn | United States | 55.2% | Honduras · 28.4% | $88 million |
| Motorcycles | China | 54.5% | India · 35.7% | $83 million |
| Wheat | Canada | 60.7% | United States · 36% | $83 million |
| Cotton yarn | United States | 73.5% | Honduras · 13.2% | $82 million |
| Kraft paper and paperboard | United States | 66.3% | Sweden · 8.4% | $75 million |
| Synthetic fiber yarn | United States | 87.5%over 75% | Honduras · 3.8% | $74 million |
| Margarine | Guatemala | 57.8% | Honduras · 30.9% | $67 million |
| New tires | China | 64.9% | Costa Rica · 8.4% | $66 million |
| Sweaters and pullovers | Honduras | 80.7%over 75% | Guatemala · 5% | $65 million |
and 287 more
A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.
Selling: who it relies on
- Largest customer: United States
- 33.1%
- Concentration (HHI)
- 1,774
Concentration index (HHI): 1,774 out of 10,000; equivalent to splitting sales among 6 customers of the same size
Trend in shares
Honduras went from 5.2% to 14.4% of what El Salvador sells
Share (%)
- United States 33.1%
- Guatemala 18.5%
- Honduras 14.4%
- Nicaragua 8.6%
- Costa Rica 4.6%
Source: CEPII BACI
Show the numbers
| Year | Largest customer | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | United States | 38% |
| 1996 | United States | 45% |
| 1997 | United States | 56.2% |
| 1998 | United States | 39.5% |
| 1999 | United States | 46.5% |
| 2000 | United States | 55.9% |
| 2001 | United States | 60.5% |
| 2002 | United States | 64.6% |
| 2003 | United States | 63.2% |
| 2004 | United States | 59.7% |
| 2005 | United States | 53.4% |
| 2006 | United States | 51.9% |
| 2007 | United States | 49.5% |
| 2008 | United States | 48.7% |
| 2009 | United States | 46.6% |
| 2010 | United States | 47.1% |
| 2011 | United States | 44.1% |
| 2012 | United States | 46% |
| 2013 | United States | 43.9% |
| 2014 | United States | 44.6% |
| 2015 | United States | 45.6% |
| 2016 | United States | 45.4% |
| 2017 | United States | 42% |
| 2018 | United States | 41.2% |
| 2019 | United States | 40.4% |
| 2020 | United States | 38.6% |
| 2021 | United States | 39.8% |
| 2022 | United States | 39% |
| 2023 | United States | 35.8% |
| 2024 | United States | 33.1% |
134 of the 282 products El Salvador sells for more than $1 million have a customer buying more than 50% of what El Salvador sells of that product; in 59, more than 75%. In those products, sales to each one’s dominant customer add up to 36.2% of what El Salvador sells.
| Product | Customer | Share | Second | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-shirts | United States | 74.2% | Honduras · 12.3% | $579 million |
| Sweaters and pullovers | United States | 77%over 75% | Honduras · 13.3% | $394 million |
| Capacitors | United States | 52% | Germany · 18.7% | $299 million |
| Socks and tights | United States | 97%over 75% | Canada · 1.7% | $170 million |
| Cables and wire | Mexico | 64.8% | United States · 16.1% | $162 million |
| Other knitted fabric | Nicaragua | 55.6% | Guatemala · 26.9% | $113 million |
| Men's knitted underwear and pajamas | United States | 88.3%over 75% | Mexico · 8% | $96 million |
| Other food preparations | United States | 56.5% | Guatemala · 14.2% | $75 million |
| Cotton yarn | Honduras | 50.5% | Guatemala · 40.4% | $72 million |
| Men's knitted suits and trousers | United States | 76.5%over 75% | Honduras · 11.8% | $68 million |
| Breakfast cereals | Guatemala | 55.8% | United States · 15.3% | $66 million |
| Women's knitted suits and dresses | United States | 84.2%over 75% | Honduras · 5.3% | $53 million |
| Bed, table and kitchen linen | United States | 75.1%over 75% | Mexico · 10.2% | $50 million |
| Men's knitted shirts | United States | 85.4%over 75% | Nicaragua · 3.7% | $48 million |
| Welded steel pipes | Guatemala | 57.7% | Honduras · 21.3% | $42 million |
and 119 more
Concentration compared
The closest countries in the concentration ranking (HHI, highest first).
| Rank | Country | HHI |
|---|---|---|
| 108 | Seychelles | 1,280 |
| 109 | Fiji | 1,259 |
| 110 | El Salvador | 1,251 |
| 111 | Trinidad and Tobago | 1,250 |
| 112 | Gibraltar | 1,239 |
| 113 | Central African Republic | 1,214 |
Links
- Trade profile of El Salvador
- Trade between El Salvador and China
- Trade between El Salvador and Guatemala
- Trade between El Salvador and Honduras
- Trade between El Salvador and Mexico
- Trade between El Salvador and the United States
- Dependence of El Salvador on the United States
- Dependence of El Salvador on China
- All countries
Sources and method
Sources and licenses
- CEPII BACI · Licence Ouverte Etalab 2.0
- Natural Earth · Public domain
Methodology
The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.
Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.
The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.
Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.
The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.
Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.