Remittances still essential for El Salvador

Remittances continue to be one of El Salvador's primary sources of income.  The money sent home by Salvadorans who have migrated abroad support the households of hundreds of thousands in the country.  According to World Bank data, remittances to El Salvador make up 1/6th of the country's gross domestic product.  

Remittances in 2015 hit an all time high of $4.27 billion.   There will likely be another record in 2016,  as remittances in 2016 are 6.1% higher through the first nine months of the year than the corresponding period in 2015 according to El Salvador's Central Reserve Bank

A recent report, based on interviews with 17,000 Salvadorans who do such things as pay bills and receive remittances at credit unions across the country, gives more insight into the profile of remittance receivers:

Over sixty percent of participants [in the study] have relatives abroad, and nearly fifty percent receive remittances. Women tend to be more remittance dependent, first because 49% of them receive remittances compared to 34% of men. And second, their total income includes more remittances than men’s income. On average, participants receive $205 twelve times a year,