El Salvador's sales abroad remain in the red, according to the Corporación de Exportadores de El Salvador (COEXPORT). In july, the country's exports registered an inter-annual drop of 16.2%, or US$109.7 million less, according to figures published wednesday by the Banco Central de Reserva (BCR).

The accumulated drop between january and july of this year amounts to US$377.4 million (8.6%), since up to july 2022 the country had managed to export US$4,385.4 million, but the accumulated to july 2023 was only US$4,008 million, the BCR indicated.

With this result, El Salvador records six months of declines in this indicator. The only positive result was obtained last february, when it exported US$582.9 million, US$6.3 million more than a year earlier.

Exported volumes also show a decrease. In july 2023, El Salvador exported 262.1 million kilograms, 9.7% less than the 290.4 million kilograms exported in july 2022. The accumulated drop between january and july amounts to 25.7 million kilograms (1.2%) with 2,114.7 million kilograms sold abroad.

The president of the Corporación de Exportadores de El Salvador COEXPORT, Silvia Cuellar, says that the impact is due to a drop in textile orders.

The United States has been left with balances that it has not yet been able to ship and therefore does not make larger orders, and that is the biggest effect that we are facing," said the representative of the exporters.

Salvadoran imports also decreased in july. That month, the country imported US$1,278.9 million, US$202.6 million less than in the same month of the previous year. Between january and july 2023, the country's imports totaled US$9,065.2 million, US$1,074.5 million less than in the same period last year.

With last month's result, the country's trade balance decreased from -US$803.1 million in july 2022 to -US$710.2 million in july 2023. The figures are negative because El Salvador is in deficit in its foreign trade, that is, it imports more than it exports.

Translated by: A.M