El Salvador - GFDRR

44 | El Salvador: Damage, Loss, and Needs Assesment
TABLE 17. CLASSIFICATION OF AFFECTED BUSINESSES
(Percentage of total)
By Department
Cuscatlán 2.6
La Libertad 17.6
La Paz 16.2
San Salvador 25.9
San Vicente 37.6
By Economic Sector
Industry 12.1
Large-scale Commerce 5.3
Small-scale Commerce 39.7
Services 42.9
By Size
Large Business 0.9
Medium Business 2.6
Small Business 17.6
Microbusiness 78.8
Source: Prepared by the authors based on the survey conducted by DIGESTYC.
In the 14 municipalities surveyed, an impact equivalent to US$7.69 million is estimated, of which a
total of US$3.88 million correspond to damages and the rest to losses. These values were extrapolated to
all municipalities affected, assuming that the impact on the 14 municipalities surveyed represents 50% of
the damages in the 66 municipalities affected. Thus, at national level, damages and losses are estimated
to be equivalent to US$7.75 million and US$7.62 million, respectively.
To evaluate the key factors that affect businesses due to the disaster, during the survey participants
were asked to list the three most important factors. The results indicate that the drop in demand has been
the most important factor, followed by road access problems due to blocked roads. Other factors mentioned
include damages to the site, and problems with the provision of basic services.
In line with the above, of the values of damages presented in Table 18 over 70% correspond to damages
to buildings, while among losses the principal components are losses associated with reduced activity,
representing 90% of the total.
With regard to damages, 7.3% of businesses suffered damages to the construction of their establishment,
4.3% to other assets, and 4.6% to inventories. By type of activity, the service sector experienced the
most damage (US$3.44 million); San Salvador was the municipality most affected. This result reflects damages
of nearly US$2 million reported in buildings of the service sector in said department. In turn, retail busi-