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By: Stella Clark
Country Overview
El Salvador is a lower-middle-income Central American country with a population of about 6.8 million. Its economy is heavily service-based with substantial contributions from remittances and the diaspora. Emigration and dependency on remittances remain central to its development context. (World Bank 2024; UN DESA 2024)
Key Labor Export Statistics
Approximately 1.6 million Salvadorans live abroad (UN DESA 2019).
Gender distribution: about 46% women and 54% men among emigrants (UN DESA 2024).
Main employment sectors abroad: factory work, domestic work, construction, and cleaning services (ILO 2024; IOM 2023).
Top Destination Countries
United States
Spain
Mexico
Canada
(UN DESA 2023; IOM 2023)
Remittance Data
Remittances as a share of GDP: 23.9% in 2023 for El Salvador. (World Bank 2023)
Total remittances received in 2023: US $8.18 billion. (World Bank 2024; IMF 2024)
Legal Gaps
El Salvador faces challenges in ensuring full protection of its migrant workers abroad. While remittances are large, there is limited publicly-available data on bilateral labour agreements, reintegration programs, or formal sector employment abroad for its nationals. The large diaspora size also poses governance and policy coordination issues.
NGO & Support Resources
International Organization for Migration (IOM): El Salvador | IOM (NTCA)
UNHCR El Salvador: El Salvador | UNHCR
Alianza Americas: Alianza
Sources
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). 2024. International Migrant Stock 2024: Key Facts and Figures. New York: United Nations.
World Bank. 2024. Personal Remittances, Received (% of GDP) – El Salvador. Washington, DC: World Bank Data Portal.
GlobalEconomy.com. 2023. “El Salvador: Remittances as percent of GDP.”
Inter-American Development Bank. 2024. “Migrant wages and remittances to Latin America and the Caribbean in 2023.”
Migration Policy Institute. 2015. The Salvadoran Diaspora in the United States. Washington, DC.
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