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El Salvador's economy is primarily agricultural, with farming employing about 40% of the workforce and accounting for a quarter of the gross national product. Nonetheless, it is more highly industrialized than its neighbors. El Salvador's economy was adversely affected by its 12-year civil war. Beginning in the early 1990s, however, attempts were made to revive the country's economic life, and the economy had recovered by the beginning of 2001, when El Salvador adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency.
Two thirds of the land is used for either crops or pasturage. Corn is the chief subsistence crop, and rice, beans, oilseeds, sorghum, and wheat are also grown; coffee is the major cash crop. Textiles, processed foods, clothing, tobacco products, and chemicals are among El Salvador's leading manufactures. The Inter-American Highway crosses El Salvador and forms the heart of an excellent transportation system that links San Salvador with the ports of La UniOn, Acajutla, and La Libertad and the inland cities of San Miguel and Santa Ana.
Coffee is the main export, accounting for nearly half of El Salvador's export income. Other exports include cotton and sugar. The leading imports are petroleum products, consumer goods, foodstuffs, and machinery.
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