Average inflation in El Salvador

Measures the change in the price of a representative basket of goods and services bought by Salvadoran households. It is published by the national statistics office (DIGESTYC/BCR) and is the country's main gauge of inflation.

Compiled from a regular price survey across a wide sample of outlets, weighting each item by its share in household spending on an index with a base year of 100. Average annual inflation averages the year's year-on-year changes.

Prices bear directly on consumption and purchasing power. Because El Salvador is dollarised and has no monetary policy of its own, inflation is not steered by a national central bank but mainly reflects US prices and domestic pressures.

It measures only the defined basket, not the whole economy, and the country's small size means one-off factors such as food or fuel can move the index. For the underlying trend, core inflation, excluding energy and unprocessed food, is watched.