According to the Comisión Ejecutiva Portuaria Autónoma (CEPA), this figure represents a 5.7% increase compared to the same period last year, which is extremely encouraging in the Government's efforts to reactivate the national economy, in the midst of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This tonnage of imported and exported goods and raw materials also represents 22.2 % of the 5,292,285 metric tons mobilized during the whole year 2021, which is very positive, since during the first quarter of the year economic activity usually starts quite slow.

Regarding total exports of goods produced by El Salvador, the Banco Central de Reserva (BCR) reported that they totaled $6,628.8 million at the end of 2021, which entails a growth of 31.8%, or $1,600.4 million more, compared to the previous year and 12.3% compared to 2019.

The result as of december exceeded by 6.8 percentage points the growth projected by ECLAC for Latin America and the Caribbean, estimated at 25 % for 2021, reflecting the strong and rapid recovery of the country's export sector, clarified the BCR.

As for merchandise imports in 2021, these totaled $15,075.9 million, with a growth rate of 47.1 % in value and 18.3 % in volume, which together represent 76.4 % of total imports.