87.55
% of GDP, 2025
Moderate trust, 68 of 100 The sources disagree: their figures run from 56.19 to 87.55.
- IMF WEO
- IMF GDD
- GDD central
Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.
Show the data as a table
| Year | IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), general government gross debt (GGXWDG_NGDP) | IMF Global Debt Database (September 2025), general government debt (GG_DEBT_GDP) | IMF Global Debt Database (September 2025), central government debt (CG_DEBT_GDP) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | – | – | 5.06 |
| 1952 | – | – | 5.49 |
| 1953 | – | – | 6.09 |
| 1954 | – | – | 5.25 |
| 1955 | – | – | 4.62 |
| 1956 | – | – | 5.56 |
| 1957 | – | – | 6.4 |
| 1958 | – | – | 6.74 |
| 1959 | – | – | 6.53 |
| 1960 | – | – | 6.39 |
| 1961 | – | – | 7.55 |
| 1963 | – | – | 7.42 |
| 1964 | – | – | 7.61 |
| 1965 | – | – | 8.46 |
| 1966 | – | – | 9.37 |
| 1967 | – | – | 9.49 |
| 1968 | – | – | 9.66 |
| 1969 | – | – | 10.38 |
| 1970 | – | – | 10.13 |
| 1971 | – | – | 10.36 |
| 1972 | – | – | 11.01 |
| 1973 | – | – | 11.15 |
| 1974 | – | – | 12.18 |
| 1975 | – | – | 13.08 |
| 1976 | – | – | 14.42 |
| 1977 | – | – | 12.13 |
| 1978 | – | – | 14.63 |
| 1979 | – | – | 15.91 |
| 1980 | – | – | 21.99 |
| 1981 | – | – | 39.5 |
| 1982 | – | – | 50.09 |
| 1983 | – | – | 66.42 |
| 1984 | – | – | 102.35 |
| 1985 | – | – | 112.07 |
| 1986 | – | – | 92.9 |
| 1987 | – | – | 96.32 |
| 1988 | – | – | 84.67 |
| 1989 | – | – | 84.93 |
| 1990 | – | – | 55.74 |
| 1991 | 43.33 | 43.33 | 57.52 |
| 1992 | 36.36 | 36.36 | 52.61 |
| 1993 | 31.87 | 31.87 | 41.56 |
| 1994 | 30.55 | 30.55 | 36.97 |
| 1995 | 28.04 | 28.04 | 32.5 |
| 1996 | 28.55 | 28.55 | 32.34 |
| 1997 | 27.79 | 27.79 | 28.63 |
| 1998 | 25.65 | 25.65 | 26.17 |
| 1999 | 27.99 | 27.99 | 28.4 |
| 2000 | 29.55 | 29.55 | 30.52 |
| 2001 | 37.84 | 37.84 | 35.08 |
| 2002 | 43.8 | 43.8 | 40.21 |
| 2003 | 45.96 | 45.96 | 42.57 |
| 2004 | 46.81 | 46.81 | 44.08 |
| 2005 | 46.29 | 46.29 | 43.92 |
| 2006 | 52.56 | 52.56 | 43.96 |
| 2007 | 52.2 | 52.2 | 41.5 |
| 2008 | 54.21 | 54.21 | 41.41 |
| 2009 | 65.78 | 65.78 | 50.3 |
| 2010 | 66.79 | 66.79 | 49.89 |
| 2011 | 65.6 | 65.6 | 48.15 |
| 2012 | 69.99 | 69.99 | 51.34 |
| 2013 | 69.65 | 69.65 | 49.19 |
| 2014 | 71.79 | 71.79 | 49.63 |
| 2015 | 73.46 | 73.46 | 49.66 |
| 2016 | 75.21 | 75.21 | 49.57 |
| 2017 | 77.14 | 77.14 | 48.75 |
| 2018 | 76.96 | 76.96 | 47.7 |
| 2019 | 77.91 | 77.91 | 47.99 |
| 2020 | 95.37 | 95.37 | 61.94 |
| 2021 | 87.96 | 87.96 | 57.99 |
| 2022 | 83.66 | 83.35 | 54.45 |
| 2023 | 83.95 | 84.68 | 53.76 |
| 2024 | 87.72 | 87.58 | 56.19 |
| 2025 | 87.55 | – | – |
All countriesAll of El Salvador's figuresCompare
El Salvador among 184 countries
32 have a higher figure and 151 a lower one. Definitions differ between countries, and their years run from 2009 to 2026.
What this number counts
- Counts
- General government gross debt at the end of the year, as a percentage of the year's GDP (a narrower central government figure is shown with half weight)
- Where
- El Salvador
- When
- Latest actual year: IMF WEO 2025, IMF GDD 2024, GDD central 2024. IMF WEO forecast years are left out. (one year, not an average)
Where the number comes from (3 sources)
| Source | Figure and year | Definition | Quality | Counts for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
IMF World Economic Outlook (October 2026), general government gross debt (GGXWDG_NGDP)International Monetary Fund (IMF) · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27 | 87.552025 | General government gross debt at the end of 2025, as a percentage of GDP, from the IMF World Economic Outlook of October 2026.Latest actual year according to WEO: 2025; later WEO years are IMF forecasts and are left out. WEO's country metadata: general government covers Central Government; Local Government; Social Security Funds; debt is valued at face value; instruments listed: Loans; Securities Other than Shares; methodology: Government Finance Statistics Manual (GFSM) 1986; historical data source: Other. Country notes: Historical data source: Ministry of Finance and Central Bank. Basis of recording: Adjustments were made to cash data on the expenditure side (starting from 2012) to reflect identifiable delays in payments. The authorities’ debt coverage, until end-2022, only included part of the pension debt of the NFPS under face value accounting, and staff followed the authorities’ presentation until end-2022. In April 2023 the authorities carried out a debt exchange with private pension funds as part of a pension reform plan and started reporting pension debt separately from the fiscal accounts. Staff numbers and projections include all pension debt. Debt data for 2023-2025 has been revised to subtract from debt, central government bonds held by other entities of the NFPS. For 2027, fiscal data reflects the recognition of accrued but unpaid interest to private pensions funds for US$2,329 million. Raw file: weo_sdmx_GGXWDG_NGDP.xml (https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/IMF.RES,WEO/.GGXWDG_NGDP.A; WEO published 13 October 2026). | 5 of 5 checks
| 71% |
IMF Global Debt Database (September 2025), general government debt (GG_DEBT_GDP)International Monetary Fund (IMF) · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27 | 87.582024 | Total stock of debt liabilities issued by the general government at the end of 2024, as a percentage of GDP (GDD indicator "Debt instruments, General government").The GDD names its source for each span of years: WEO 2025 (1991-2024). The figure for 2024 comes from WEO 2025. Calendar years. Raw file: gdd_sdmx_GG_CG.xml (https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/IMF.FAD,GDD/.FL_S13_POGDP_PT+FL_S1311MIXED_POGDP_PT.A; GDD release of 17 September 2025), the same values as the DataMapper API file GG_DEBT_GDP.json. The GDD gives "WEO 2025" as the source of its 2024 figure, the collection shown in the IMF WEO line, so it is shown but not counted as a separate source. The latest IMF WEO release gives 87.72 for 2024. | 5 of 5 checks
| Not counted |
IMF Global Debt Database (September 2025), central government debt (CG_DEBT_GDP)International Monetary Fund (IMF) · Official economic statisticsRetrieved 2026-10-27 | 56.192024 | Total stock of debt liabilities issued by the central government at the end of 2024, as a percentage of GDP (GDD indicator "Debt instruments, Central government").The GDD names its source for each span of years: IFS (1951-1982); IMF International Financial Statistics and World Bank International Debt Statistics (1983-1996); National Source (1997-2024). The figure for 2024 comes from National Source. Calendar years. Central government is a narrower unit than general government: it leaves out state and local governments and, depending on the country, social security funds, so it is shown with half weight. Raw file: gdd_sdmx_GG_CG.xml (https://api.imf.org/external/sdmx/2.1/data/IMF.FAD,GDD/.FL_S13_POGDP_PT+FL_S1311MIXED_POGDP_PT.A; GDD release of 17 September 2025), the same values as the DataMapper API file CG_DEBT_GDP.json. | 4 of 5 checks
| 29% |
- IMF WEO71%
- GDD central29%
Shown but not counted: IMF GDD (republishes IMF WEO).
How the trust score was worked out
- Quality37.7 / 40
How well the sources are made
- Agreement8.5 / 30
How close the sources are to each other
- Independence12 / 20
How many separate ways the number was measured
- Freshness10 / 10
How recent the newest data is
Who reports it, and since when
- Blind spot: every counted source is the same kind
- GDD central, 1983: The GDD series switches source in 1983: IFS up to 1982, then IMF International Financial Statistics and World Bank International Debt Statistics (1983-1996). source
- GDD central, 1997: The GDD series switches source in 1997: IMF International Financial Statistics and World Bank International Debt Statistics up to 1996, then National Source (1997-2024). source
- GDD central: no figure here for 1962
figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change
Why the numbers differ
- Gross and net debt: gross debt counts what the government owes; net debt subtracts the financial assets that match debt instruments. For Norway, WEO gives gross debt of 54% of GDP and net debt of -160.39% for 2025; for Canada, 113.58% gross and 10.43% net for 2025. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- General and central government: the GDD central government line leaves out state and local governments and, in many countries, social security funds. For Norway the GDD gives 14.88% of GDP for central government in 2024, against 54% for general government in WEO (2025). (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Market and face value: WEO records, country by country, how debt is valued. It gives current market value for Japan and Norway, face value for Germany, France and Italy, and nominal value for the United States and the United Kingdom. Eurostat's Maastricht debt is always at face value and consolidated within general government. When interest rates rise, the market value of existing bonds falls below their face value, so the two measures move apart.
- Instruments: WEO lists which liabilities each country's gross debt includes. Some include insurance, pension and standardised guarantee schemes and other accounts payable; Maastricht debt counts only currency and deposits, debt securities and loans.
- Releases: the GDD (September 2025) took most of its recent general government figures from the 2025 WEO, and WEO has since revised them. For Japan the GDD gives 236.66% of GDP for 2024; WEO October 2026 gives 213.59% for the same year and 213.59% for 2024. Lines copied from another line are shown but not counted twice. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Eurostat and WEO for EU countries: WEO says it takes the debt data of several EU members from Eurostat; where it says so, the WEO line is marked as a copy. Small differences remain because Eurostat's October release is later than the data WEO used.
Common mistakes
- Reading gross debt alone for countries with large government financial assets, such as Norway: the government owns more financial assets than it owes, so net debt is below zero. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Treating WEO forecast years as data: WEO tables run several years ahead. This page keeps only the years WEO marks as actual for each country. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
- Forgetting that the ratio changes when GDP is revised, even if the debt does not. Istat revised Italy's national accounts in September 2026, and Eurostat flags a break in Italy's series from 2010. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Download, cite and report an error
From the table How large is each government's debt compared with its economy, and how has it changed since 1980? Updated 2026-10-27.
Download every value in this table (CSV)
Cite as: RealStats, “General government gross debt in El Salvador”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page.