World Bank forecasts El Salvador to grow 2.7% this 2025

The multilateral presented this week its growth projections report, in which it reiterates the growth it had predicted for El Salvador in October 2024.

2025 is shaping up to be a year of important achievements for El Salvador under the state strategy of prioritizing economic growth during the second Bukele administration, and the actions implemented to this end.

International recognition of the conditions generated by El Salvador to increase development also plays an important role in this dynamic, such as the improvements in the country risk rating in recent months and the favorable forecasts of multilateral organizations.

The most recent is the growth forecast of the World Bank (WB), which in its January report gives El Salvador a 2.7% growth rate for 2025, and expects the country to grow by 2.6% in 2026.

The projection for this year remains unchanged with respect to what the entity had foreseen for the country in its October 2024 report.

With the data revealed this week, El Salvador’s projection is above the 2.5% forecast for the Latin American and Caribbean region, according to the World Bank, and, at the same time, it is equal to the world projection of 2.7%.

“Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is projected to accelerate to 2.5% in 2025 and 2.6% in 2026 as Argentina recovers, interest rates normalize and inflation falls,” the report released this week said.

The multilateral also believes that, over the next 12 months, commodity prices will support the region’s exports, although moderate growth in China could limit demand for key commodities.

On the other hand, the Central Reserve Bank’s (BCR) growth outlook for this year is 3%, which would be leveraged by the announcements of the execution of large private and public investment projects, added to the dynamism that tourism is having in the country, and an improvement in commercial activity related to security.

BCR President, Douglas Rodriguez, pointed out that current growth scenarios are well above those reported by El Salvador during the ARENA and FMLN administrations, which never exceeded 2.5%.

The BCR’s estimate was supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last October, when it projected that the country would grow by 3 % this year, which, in turn, implied an improvement over its previous estimate of 1.3 %.

Source: Diario El Salvador