Distillers Country guides / El Salvador
El Salvador
A one-page guide to El Salvador for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- San Salvador
- Official languages
- Spanish
- Currency
- US dollar (USD)
- Time zone
- UTC-6
- Area
- 21,040 km²
People
- Population
- 6.4 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.4% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 75.5%
- Aged under 15
- 24.4%
- Aged 65 and over
- 8.3%
- Life expectancy
- 72.3 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$36.7 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$5,767 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 3.91% (2025)
- Inflation
- 0.26% (2025)
Climate
Tropical with distinct wet (May to October) and dry (November to April) seasons. Pacific lowlands average 25-29 C; San Salvador about 23 C; mountain areas 12-23 C.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 18
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 3.15 litres of pure alcohol (2020)
- What people drink
- Beer 49%, wine 2%, spirits 49% (2022)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Wikipedia: El Salvador; World Bank Open Data API (population, area, GDP, growth, inflation); Our World in Data / WHO GHO alcohol per capita; Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Euromonitor: Spirits in El Salvador (Sept 2026, listing). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.