el salvador tourism statistics 2021

International tourism, number of arrivals - El Salvador

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The World Bank In El Salvador

World Bank is committed to supporting El Salvador navigate a challenging international economic context, with focus on reducing extreme poverty, increasing employment generation, improving human development, and fostering climate resilience

El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, has experienced modest economic growth in recent decades, with an annual rate of 2.5 percent between 2013 and 2019. Still, the country managed to significantly reduce poverty and inequality. In 2019, the Gini Index, which ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 representing perfect equality and 1 representing perfect inequality, fell below 0.4, a value considered by the World Bank to be an indicator of high inequality.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant negative impact on people’s lives and families’ incomes. Although El Salvador was quick to adopt strong containment measures against the outbreak and the government rolled out a robust fiscal response to limit the pandemic’s impact on households and businesses, the pandemic dealt a major blow to growth as gross domestic product (GDP) declined by -7.9 percent in 2020.

In 2021, El Salvador’s economy grew by 11.2 percent, while growth moderated to 2.6 percent in 2022 and 2.7 percent in 2023, and is expected to hold steady at an average of 2.7 percent in 2024. In the medium term, GDP is forecast to converge to 2.5 percent, above historical averages, on the back of private consumption, public investment, and tourism.

Upper-middle-income and lower-middle-income poverty lines, measured at US$6.85 and US$3.65 per person (2017 purchasing power parity - PPP), were 27.5 percent and 8.6 percent in 2022, respectively.

National poverty rates tell a mixed story. The moderate poverty rate remains relatively stable, slightly below the prepandemic level (despite an increase between 2019 and 2020), while the extreme poverty rate increased in 2022, remaining 4.1 percentage points above the 2019 rate.

Challenges persist in El Salvador, such as the need to advance reforms for fiscal sustainability. The fiscal response to the COVID-19 crisis helped mitigate its impacts, cost around 16.5 percent of GDP and, together with low revenues and rigid expenditures, pushed public debt to beyond 90 percent of GDP.

Although debt has declined in recent years, it is still above prepandemic levels and the country’s fiscal position remains fragile. The government faces liquidity pressures and has few financing alternatives. A well-defined medium-term fiscal framework could reduce uncertainty and allow the country to regain the ability to issue debt in international markets to foster sustainable growth.

Despite challenges, El Salvador has tremendous potential to drive a dynamic, inclusive, and resilient economic growth. The country can continue to prioritize ramping up investments in human capital to foster accumulation and enhance the effectiveness of the social protection system. It can also boost public and private investment, promote access to high-quality jobs, and foster a more dynamic, competitive, and innovative private sector.

To reduce vulnerabilities, El Salvador can also promote a sustainable and equitable fiscal policy, build resilience to disaster risk and pandemics, and strengthen governance and institutions.

Last Updated: Apr 03, 2024

The World Bank's current Country Partnership Framework 2023-27 (CPF) addresses the Government of El Salvador's vision of achieving higher levels of growth, generating more and better jobs, overcoming shortcomings in human capital, and fostering resilience to disasters caused by natural phenomena and climate change. It is based on the systematic country diagnosis - a comprehensive assessment of the challenges faced by El Salvador in terms of growth and poverty reduction.

The CPF has three main objectives aimed at promoting sustainable, equitable and inclusive growth:

• Increased private sector-led job creation , focusing on improving macro-fiscal preconditions and increasing the availability of quality jobs with a special focus on youth and vulnerable population sectors.
• Strengthening human capital throughout the life-cycle , focusing on job supply and El Salvador's most important asset: its people.
• Increasing resilience to disasters and climate change , with special emphasis on reliable access to basic services and a climate-resilient road infrastructure.

The work program in El Salvador will also comprise two cross-cutting themes: First, the promotion, where appropriate, of the economic empowerment of women throughout their life cycle, so that they and their families can benefit from better employment opportunities and well-being. Secondly, improved governance by strengthening institutions and user participation in intervention sectors such as health, water, transportation, and education, aimed at obtaining better results in terms of management, transparency and the performance of key services.

As of April 2024, the World Bank's portfolio in El Salvador includes seven projects totaling USD 1.27 billion. Operations are focused on education and health (with particular emphasis on early childhood), territorial development, transportation infrastructure, water, and improving the employability of young people, especially the most vulnerable segments.  

The Growing Up Healthy Together Project (USS 250 million loan) was designed to strengthen health-promoting programs for children aged 0 to 7 years, as well as for mothers before conception and during gestation. The Growing and Learning Together Project (USD 250 million loan and USD 14.25 million in trust fund financing) aims to improve teaching practices in early childhood care and education, and simultaneously renovating pre-selected educational facilities.

Other projects being implemented include: the COVID-19 Emergency Response Project and two additional rounds of financing (totaling USD 170 million) to support the COVID-19 pandemic response, and vaccine procurement and distribution; and the Local Economic Resilience Project (USD 200 million loan) to boost local economic development, improve the institutional performance of municipalities, and increase citizen access to services and resilient infrastructure.

The Water Sector Resilience Project  in El Salvador (USD 100 million loan) was approved in April 2023. This project aims to improve the quality, reliability, and efficiency of drinking water supply in selected areas of the country, and to provide a rapid and effective reponse in the event of emergencies caused by natural phenomena.

In October 2023, the Resilient Transportation and Infrastructure Project in El Salvador  (USD 150 million loan) was also approved, aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the crucial Apopa logistics hub, which will make domestic travel and development opportunities more accessible to Apopa residents.

The  Promoting Job Opportunities and Skills Development Project in El Salvador (USD 150 million loan) was approved in November 2023 to improve access to job opportunities and skills development for youth and adults, focused especially on individuals from vulnerable groups between the ages of 18 and 40.

The loan portfolio is complemented by operations financed by trust funds in the environmental sector , together with advisory and analytical services in the areas of trade facilitation, education, social protection, energy, and disaster risk management, among others.

The  Integrated Landscape Management and Restoration Project  is being implemented in the  El Imposible Barra de Santiago  Conservation Area, which ranges from coastal areas across farmland up to forested heights. It aims at strengthening local environmental governance mechanisms, implement an environmental education plan, improve landscape restoration monitoring, develop ecosystem services compensation mechanisms between communities, improve sustainable landscape management practices over 51,000 ha, restore 1040 ha of degraded land, and generate 444,000 Metric Ton (MT) CO2e of emission reductions.

The  Strengthening Public Health Care System Project  supported the expansion of the Integrated Health Care Services Model in the 82 poorest municipalities of the country. Project results include the construction of the first national radiology center for cancer treatment, procurement of 44 fully equipped ambulances, improved management of medical waste in 30 hospitals, the development of the first national strategy for chronic diseases and the creation of the national directorate of chronic diseases within the Ministry of Health. During the implementation of the project, more than 1,300 pregnant women and 14,000 children under age 3 received maternal and childcare services. Also, around 85,000 people benefited from immunization vaccines and close to 8,000 chronic kidney patients received treatment kits. The project also supported the training of over 4,660 health staff.  

The  Education Quality Improvement Project  expanded the adoption of the Inclusive Full Time School (IFTS) Model in 29 municipalities in the country. The project supported the construction of 32 schools with refurbished infrastructure, the renovation of 563 school facilities (classrooms, libraries, study rooms, teacher rooms, and sports and recreation spaces) and the provision of educational material and equipment to 195 schools to adopt the IFTS model. The project benefited more than 151,000 students and teachers, including 6,259 students in grades 7 to 9 who received more than 30 hours per week of additional pedagogical activities with the IFTS model, and about 2,500 teachers who got certified in pedagogical skills such as art, physical education, and indigenous cultures, among others. 

The  Addressing Non-Communicable Diseases Project  in El Salvador has benefited a total over 80 thousand women between the ages of 30 and 59 with the Human papillomavirus (HPV)  detection test and around 743,683 people with interventions aimed at early detection and timely management of Non Communicable Diseases such as Diabetes Mellitus, Kidney Diseases, among others. It has also promoted the integrative health care model in all municipalities, including institutionalization of the cervical cancer strategy at the national level implying innovative screening tools for accelerated eradication of the disease.

El Salvador: Commitments by Fiscal Year (in millions of dollars)*

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El Salvador Tourism

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• First Online: 25 April 2023
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• Chaitanya Suárez-Rojas 3 ,
• Javier de León 3 &
• Yen E. Lam-González 3  

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El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America, with an area of 21,041 km 2 (8124 mi 2 ). It is densely populated, with 6.5 million inhabitants (Fig. 1 ). As of 2019, the country’s GDP was US$27 billion, services and industry being the major economic sectors (World Bank 2021 ). El Salvador has a tropical climate with comfortable temperatures most of the year. One can move easily between different tourism areas of the country, featuring surfing beaches, crowd-free national parks, whitewater rapids, hot volcanic springs, colorful flower-filled villages, coffee plantations, Indigenous craft markets, gastronomical events, and archaeological remains of the Maya empire.

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Andries, D.M., C. Arnaiz-Schmitz, P. Díaz-Rodríguez, C. Herrero-Jáuregui, and M.F. Schmitz. 2021. Sustainable tourism and natural protected areas: Exploring local population perceptions in a post-conflict scenario. Land 10 (3): 331.

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CORSATUR. 2020. Informe de Labores 2019–2020.

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UNWTO. 2021. International tourism highlights . Madrid: World Tourism Organization.

World Bank. 2021. World development indicators El Salvador . Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Economic Forum. 2019. Global competitiveness report 2018–2019.

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Chaitanya Suárez-Rojas, Javier de León & Yen E. Lam-González

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Suárez-Rojas, C., de León, J., Lam-González, Y.E. (2023). El Salvador Tourism. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_767-1

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Tourism in El Salvador

Development of the tourism sector in el salvador from 1995 to 2021.

Revenues from tourism

All data for El Salvador in detail

El Salvador in English

News from el salvador in english.

El Salvador received 521,000 tourists in the first quarter of 2022

During the first quarter of this year, El Salvador received 521,000 tourists who left income of more than $352.7 million, said the president of the Central Reserve Bank, Douglas Rodríguez, in a television interview.

That figure represents 165% more than the country received in the same period of 2021, when 197,000 tourists entered and spent $235.6 million.

«In 2021, 1.4 million tourists entered, and at the rate we are going, it is very likely that this year we will double that figure,» said the official.

Likewise, the president of the BCR assured that tourists who stay in the country for an average of eight days spend about $108 a day, mainly on lodging, consumption in restaurants, transportation, and tourist activities.

«Tourism becomes another source of additional income for the production of goods and services that a country has. The numbers confirm that the country is transforming, security gives it the attraction that tourists need,» said Rodríguez, who highlighted that the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship, which takes place in El Salvador, has mobilized activity in this sector.

In this sense, he added that 96% of the hotel activity is focused on serving tourists, restaurant operations with 28%; air transport with 82%; travel agencies with 94%; and recreational centers with 79% of activity for attention to tourists.

In addition, he indicated that tourism stimulates the local economy and boosts the activity of small businesses, as well as stimulates public and private investment.

«In order to promote a country, it is important to have solid strategies and favorable conditions for tourism, here we must highlight the leadership of President Nayib Buekele,» the official stressed.

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El salvador perspectives.

News, history, culture and analysis of El Salvador and the Salvadoran people.

Tourism is growing steadily in El Salvador

As part of our series on the state of El Salvador at the beginning of 2023, today we look at tourism.  It is an area which represents a clear achievement of the Bukele regime.  As the world emerges from depressed travel numbers caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, El Salvador is growing tourism visits and revenues beyond their 2019 pre-COVID levels.  

I observed a visible sign of this growth in recent weeks.  On two recent visits to the historic center of San Salvador, I saw groups of obvious tourists being led around to sites like the Metropolitan Cathedral and the National Palace by tour guides.  These were not the religious or university groups which have long made delegation visits to El Salvador, but were tour groups on vacation trips.  That's definitely something new.    

Cruise ships are starting to make El Salvador a regular port of call.  Seven cruise ships have already docked at the port of Acajutla during the current cruise line season which began in October. While that is a small number compared to traditional cruise stops such as Costa Rica or Panama, it is a significant increase over the past. 

You can also see the expansion of tourism by the growth of El Salvador listings on the website TripAdvisor , as well as the vacation rental sites AirBNB  and VRBO .   New small hotels are regularly being announced along the Pacific coast, although the country is not yet seeing the development of large resorts by chains like Marriott or Hyatt.  (And the lack of mega resorts might be a good thing from an environmental standpoint).

The travel publisher Lonely Planet listed El Salvador as one of its " Best in Travel 2023 " destinations with this description:

El Salvador is a travel powerhouse in a tiny package. This underrated destination appeals to those looking to get off the beaten path of Central American travel and dive into a multifaceted country with a taste for adventure. Here you'll find world-class surfing on empty, dark-sand beaches; coffee plantations clinging to the sides of volcanoes; pretty flower-filled villages with buildings splashed by murals; and sublime national parks. 

The Salvadoran government announced statistics on tourism growth in a recent  press release :

According to statistics, in 2022, 2.5 million visitors entered El Salvador, which represented 96% recovery [from 2019]. "We exceeded the goal we had for this year, of 2.4 million visitors," said the Minister of Tourism, Morena Valdez. In terms of ... the spending of visitors during their stay in the country, it exceeded $2,646 million, which meant a growth of 50% compared to 2019. "This is because our international visitors are staying longer in the country, they are spending more, and they are using all the tourism items in our value chain: transportation, hotels, restaurants, recreational sites, among others," said the Minister. 

(There is certainly some reason to question these numbers since there is a basic math mistake on the graphic. If you divide the total tourist spending by the number of tourists and the average length of stay, you get a number less than half the average daily spending ($162) shown on the graphic).  

Statistics on airport arrivals are a good proxy for the number of visitors arriving to El Salvador.  The most recent statistics from the Salvadoran migration authoritycover the six month period from January to June 2022.  During that period, 711,332 persons passed through immigration control at El Salvador’s international airport, a 21% increase over the period from January to June 2019, pre-COVID pandemic.

In  another change, in January 2023 the government doubled the length of tourist visas from 90 days to 180 days.   These visas are awarded to arriving tourists at the El Salvador airport for a payment of $12 USD.  

Who is coming to El Salvador?  Under the broad heading of tourism we have:

• Members of the Salvador diaspora returning home to visit family
• Central American visitors from Guatemala and Honduras (entering at land borders).
• Tourists traveling for fun and vacation.  Included here would be Bitcoin Crypto-tourists coming to see Nayib Bukele's grand experiment of a Bitcoin nation.

One factor driving the growth in tourism is the sophisticated marketing campaign deployed by the Salvadoran government.  The same sets of techniques used to burnish the image of the president and his government for the local population are used to put a golden glow around the country's image in international travel circles.  Some of this is described in the  National Plan of Tourism 2030 which is available  here .  You can see examples in the government's bi-lingual tourism promotion site ElSalvador.Travel .

One component of this marketing is to use surfing as a way to distribute positive images of El Salvador's Pacific coast beauty. This year, El Salvador will host at least three international surf competitions which will all produce coverage focused on surf and sport and not on political developments in the country.   "Surf City" branding is widely visible along the coast and in the government's tourism promotion efforts.      

El Salvador also simply has more mind share in the international news space under Nayib Bukele than under prior governments. For better or worse, his initiatives generate attention. And for the true believers in the Bitcoin community, El Salvador is practically a pilgrimage site.

Of course improved perceptions of crime and violence are also helping.  Although the US State Department and the Canadian government both have current travel advisories warning of violent crime in El Salvador, public perceptions of incoming tourists have changed markedly now that El Salvador is no longer known as the "murder capital of the world."  A friend who rents out a beach house in El Salvador through the website VRBO indicated that bookings are definitely up and that he no longer receives queries asking if it is safe to visit the country.

Tourism has the ongoing potential of bringing jobs and foreign investment into El Salvador.   There is ample opportunity to expand tourism from its current levels, and the government is clearly attempting to do so.   While the country certainly has its challenges with democracy, the rule of law, human rights and the separation of powers (with which readers of El Salvador Perspectives are well aware), I would still encourage you to come and visit if you have not been here for awhile, and then spread the word.      

This YouTube video from a pair of global travelers from Sweden is a perfect way to end this post:

UN Tourism | Bringing the world closer

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International tourism reached 97% of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2024

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• 21 May 2024

International tourist arrivals reached 97% of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2024. According to UN Tourism, more than 285 million tourists travelled internationally in January-March, about 20% more than the first quarter of 2023, underscoring the sector’s near-complete recovery from the impacts of the pandemic.

In 2023 international tourist arrivals recovered 89% of 2019 levels and export revenues from tourism 96%, while direct tourism GDP reached the same levels as in 2019.

UN Tourism’s projection for 2024 points to a full recovery of international tourism with arrivals growing 2% above 2019 levels. In line with this, the newest data released by the UN specialized agency for tourism show that:

Yet it also recalls the need to ensure adequate tourism policies and destination management, aiming to advance sustainability and inclusion, while addressing the externalities and impact of the sector on resources and communities

• The Middle East saw the strongest relative growth, with international arrivals exceeding by 36% pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2024, or 4% above Q1 2023. This follows an extraordinary performance in 2023, when the Middle East became the first world region to recover pre-pandemic numbers (+22%).  
• Europe , the world's largest destination region, exceeded pre-pandemic levels in a quarter for the first time (+1% from Q1 2019). The region recorded 120 million international tourists in the first three months of the year, backed by robust intra-regional demand.
• Africa welcomed 5% more arrivals in the first quarter of 2024 than in Q1 2019, and 13% more than in Q1 2023.
• The Americas practically recovered pre-pandemic numbers this first quarter, with arrivals reaching 99% of 2019 levels.
• International tourism is experiencing a rapid recovery in Asia and the Pacific where arrivals reached 82% of pre-pandemic levels in Q1 2024, after recovering 65% in the year 2023.

UN Tourism Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili said: "The recovery of the sector is very welcome news for our economies and the livelihoods of millions. Yet it also recalls the need to ensure adequate tourism policies and destination management, aiming to advance sustainability and inclusion, while addressing the externalities and impact of the sector on resources and communities".

By subregions, North Africa saw the strongest performance in Q1 2024 with 23% more international arrivals than before the pandemic, followed by Central America (+15%), the Caribbean and Western Europe (both +7%). Southern Mediterranean Europe exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 1%, while South America virtually reached 2019 levels.  Northern Europe recovered 98% of pre-pandemic levels, while Subsaharan Africa and North America both recovered 95%.

According to available data, many destinations across the world continued to achieve strong results in Q1 2024, including Qatar (+177% versus Q1 2019), Albania (+121%), Saudi Arabia (+98%), El Salvador (+90%), Tanzania (+53%), Curaçao (+45%), Serbia (+43%), Turks and Caicos (+42%), Guatemala (+41%) and Bulgaria (+38%).

The robust performance of international tourism can also be seen in the UN Tourism Confidence Index which reached 130 points (on a scale of 0 to 200) for the period January-April, above the expectations (122) expressed for this period in mid-January.

International tourism receipts reached USD 1.5 trillion in 2023, meaning a complete recovery of pre-pandemic levels in nominal terms, but 97% in real terms, adjusting for inflation.

By regions, Europe generated the highest receipts in 2023, with destinations earning USD 660 billion, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 7% in real terms. Receipts in the Middle East climbed 33% above 2019 levels. The Americas recovered 96% of its pre-pandemic earnings in 2023 and Africa 95%. Asia and the Pacific earned 78% of its pre-crisis receipts, a remarkable result when compared to its 65% recovery in arrivals last year.

Total export revenues from international tourism, including both receipts and passenger transport, reached USD 1.7 trillion in 2023, about 96% of pre-pandemic levels in real terms. Tourism direct GDP recovered pre-pandemic levels, reaching an estimated USD 3.3 trillion in 2023, equivalent to 3% of global GDP.

Several destinations achieved remarkable results in terms of receipts in the first quarter of 2024 as compared to 2019 levels based on available data, including Serbia (+127%), Türkiye (+82%), Pakistan (+72%), Tanzania (+62%), Portugal (+61%), Romania (+57%), Japan (+53%), Mongolia (+50%), Mauritius (+46%) and Morocco (+44%).

Looking ahead to a full recovery globally in 2024

International tourism is expected to recover completely in 2024 backed by strong demand, enhanced air connectivity and the continued recovery of China and other major Asian markets.

The latest UN Tourism Confidence Index shows positive prospects for the upcoming summer season, with a score of 130 for the period May-August 2024 (on a scale of 0 to 200), reflecting more upbeat sentiment than earlier this year. Some 62% of tourism experts participating in the Confidence survey expressed better (53%) or much better (9%) expectations for this 4-month period, covering the Northern Hemisphere summer season, while 31% foresee similar performance as in 2023.  

Challenges remain

According to the UN Tourism Panel of Experts, economic and geopolitical headwinds continue to pose significant challenges to international tourism and confidence levels.

IMF's latest World Economic Outlook (April 2024) points to a steady but slow economic recovery, though mixed by region. At the same time, persisting inflation, high interest rates, volatile oil prices and disruptions to trade continue to translate into high transport and accommodations costs.

Tourists are expected to continue to seek value for money and travel closer to home in response to elevated prices and the overall economic challenges, while extreme temperatures and other weather events could impact the destination choice of many travellers. This is increasingly mentioned by the UN Tourism Panel of Experts as a concern for the sector.

Uncertainty derived from the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the Hamas-Israel conflict and other mounting geopolitical tensions, are also important downside risks for international tourism.

As international tourism continues to recover and expand, fuelling economic growth and employment around the world, governments will need to continue adapting and enhancing their management of tourism at the national and local level to ensure communities and residents are at the center of this development.

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• Excerpt | World Tourism Barometer - Volume 22 • Issue 2 • May 2024

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El Salvador

El Salvador Humanitarian Needs Overview (December 2023)

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About this document

This document is consolidated by OCHA on behalf of the Humanitarian Country Team and its partners. It provides a shared understanding of crises, including the most pressing humanitarian needs and the estimated number of people in need of assistance. It represents a consolidated base of evidence and provides inputs for joint strategic response planning.

Summary of humanitarian needs and key findings

The Humanitarian Country Team, formed by United Nations agencies, national and international NGOs, government institutions and cooperating partners, has prepared this analysis that qualitatively and quantitatively describes the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable population in El Salvador.

The humanitarian situation in El Salvador is caused by extreme weather events (drought and excessive rainfall), human mobility situations, and persistent economic impacts.

Humanitarian needs estimates were calculated using the Joint Intersectoral Analysis Framework (JIAF), which comprehensively analyzes the severity of needs faced by people, using a range of cross-sectoral indicators. The results of this analysis reveal that the number of people in humanitarian need have increased slightly, from 1,115,112 to 1,119,198, equivalent to 18 per cent of the total population. This population is distributed throughout the country, especially in the central and eastern departments which are the most highly affected within the Dry Corridor. The impacts of El Niño is one of the main factors affecting populations. The World Food Programme (WFP) National Food Security Survey for June 2023 estimates that 1,044,895 people are moderately or severely food insecure (Phase 3) or worse (Crisis) on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). This is due to multiple economic and climaterelated factors, especially the expected impacts of El Niño. According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), the poorest households in the Dry Corridor in Honduras and El Salvador will resort to crisis strategies such as reducing portion sizes at meals, borrowing food, relying on help from family or friends, restricting adult food consumption to allow children to eat, or reducing the number of daily meals to address the lack of food availability at home.

These conditions are exacerbated by structural inequalities in accessing basic services such as lack of access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene services, which contribute to increased food insecurity, rates of child malnutrition and associated diseases.

Human mobility also continues to affect the population. Although the government has made progress in improving the conditions that drive human mobility, challenges remain in reducing the structural causes that cause forced displacement and migration from El Salvador. Between October 2022 to September 2023, some 62,846 Salvadorans were intercepted in the United States1 . Asylum applications in Mexico from people from El Salvador remain at levels similar to previous years. As of September 2023, the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance (COMAR) reported 5,033 asylum applications from Salvadorians, which was the fourth highest nationality in applicants2 .

Data from the General Directorate of Migration and Immigration (DGME) reveals that 14,437 Salvadorans returned to El Salvador from the United States and Mexico in 2022. This represents a 70 per cent increase compared to 2021. As of September 2023, the number of people returned to El Salvador reached 8,833. Among the main reasons cited for leaving the country are economic factors (75 per cent), family reunification (14 per cent), and insecurity (8.4 per cent)3 .

Communities historically affected by violence require specialized humanitarian assistance services as they deal with people displacing and people returning to the community.

State-reclaimed communities, formerly controlled by gangs, have urgent protection needs that could not be previously addressed. Despite significant government efforts to restore security and ensure access and free mobility in these territories, a comprehensive humanitarian response is needed. This response should guarantee access to protection and restore rights, especially for vulnerable groups such as women, female heads of household, children, adolescents, LGBTIQ+ people, and people with disabilities.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV) continues to be a relevant and complex problem in El Salvador due to the persistent inequalities between women and men. Gender stereotypes normalize this type of violence against women, girls and adolescents, people with disabilities, indigenous people, LGBTIQ+ individuals and the elderly to a greater extent. During emergencies, these people face greater challenges to dignified economic participation, property tenure, limitations in access to sexual and reproductive health, water, sanitation and hygiene services, among others.

While cases of femicide have decreased, cases of other types of GBV remain high.

The Attorney General's Office4 found that between June 2022 to May 2023 there was a 13 per cent increase in sexual violence compared to the previous period. Psychological and patrimonial violence also increased by 10 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.

Despite efforts to provide essential services to respond to GBV, there are still limitations in the response capacity, availability of resources, and safe spaces for survivors.

People affected by these crises require comprehensive humanitarian assistance that includes access to food, specialized nutrition, emergency health services and treatments, provision of quality water and sanitation, shelter, education, access to protection systems, as well as appropriate assistance in specific cases of GBV and other types of violence.

This analysis can be used in a potential comprehensive humanitarian response. It focuses on rights and age, gender and diversity, and populations and territories identified as most vulnerable.

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Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Hanley Chew issued a ruling May 13 in which Claudia Hernandez, Rene Trigueros Hernandez and Rene Aaron Hernandez Santos were held to answer — the procedural term for declaring sufficient trial evidence — on criminal charges filed against them two years ago.

The defendants are, respectively, the mother, grandfather and uncle of Arely Naomi Proctor, who died Sept. 24, 2021, at a 25-member Pentecostal church south of downtown San Jose run by Trigueros Hernandez.

They were each re-arraigned Monday on one felony count of child abuse resulting in death, and they pleaded not guilty. Their next court hearing is scheduled for Aug. 14; all three are being held in Santa Clara County jail custody, without bail, after Chew denied a defense motion for pretrial release.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 25 years to life in prison. Chew’s holding order was based on a week-long preliminary examination that concluded March 25 , during which only prosecution witnesses testified before the judge.

San Jose police detectives testified  about interviews with the defendants after Arely died — but before  they were arrested several months apart the following year. The testimony also touched on a recorded conversation between Claudia Hernandez and her brother in which she reportedly said “that God had taken (Arely) and everything was going to be OK,” and cautioned about how “it’s going to look like we intended to kill her, but we did not.”

Michelle Jorden, the county’s chief medical examiner who performed Arely’s autopsy, also testified, detailing the multitude of injuries the child suffered before she died . They included bruising all over her body and markings on the child’s neck, numerous burst blood vessels and brain swelling that were all indicative of asphyxiation and being smothered.

Defense attorneys questioned whether Arely’s death was a homicide, and challenged what they characterized as police detectives’ skepticism of the defendants’ Pentecostal faith, arguing that it prejudiced them against considering non-criminal scenarios.

They also sought to establish there was no intent to kill when Hernandez, Trigueros Hernandez and Hernandez Santos took part in the exorcism, a ritual with which the grandfather claimed past experience in his native El Salvador. Prior to his arrest, Trigueros Hernandez  admitted to this news organization  to performing the exorcism.

Through their questioning of detectives, the defense attorneys also suggested that Arely’s death was the result of a genuine, if misguided, attempt to purge her of a “demon” identified a day earlier by Claudia Hernandez. She reportedly told a police officer that she heard the child screaming and crying and “saying ‘no, no, no’ in her sleep while moving her arms out.”

Deputy District Attorney Rebekah Wise summarized the severity of the acts that ended in Arely’s death, in separate briefs urging the judge to uphold the charges and later to oppose pretrial release for the defendants. She also contended that to this point, the defendants have not shown remorse for their actions.

“During this assault, Arely Doe fought for her life as three trusted adults forcibly grabbed her by her neck, torso, back, and legs, smothered her by repeatedly attempting to pry open her mouth to make her vomit, and held her with so much force that she had internal bleeding and injuries,” wrote in the earlier filing. “The evidence shows that while this assault was ongoing, Arely struggled to escape from her abusers. She clamped her mouth in resistance to the adults who were trying to pry it open.”

Arely’s death did not draw wide attention until nearly eight months after it occurred, becoming public only after police investigating an unrelated kidnapping searched the church attended by two suspects who later pleaded no contest in that case.

Staff writer Caelyn Pender contributed to this report.

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Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Inbound tourism spending in the Caribbean 2019-2021

Expenditure of international tourists in the caribbean from 2019 to 2021 (in billion u.s. dollars).

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2019 to 2021

based on constant 2021 prices; as reported in March 2022

Report based on data from Oxford Economics, UNWTO, and national sources.

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