If you’re researching how much CECOT cost to build, the exact figure depends on whether you look at the approved budget or the executed cost.
Official budget documents and investigative reports indicate that the project had an allocated construction budget of around $135.3 million USD. This figure represents the maximum amount approved for the megaprison’s development, infrastructure, and associated works.
However, government statements—particularly those made by President Nayib Bukele—claim that the actual cost of building and equipping the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) was closer to $115 million USD.
This lower figure suggests that the final executed cost may have been below the initial budget, something that can happen when the state uses military labor, direct procurement, or publicly owned machinery and materials.
Because of this, the realistic cost range of CECOT is generally placed between:
- $115 million (executed cost)
- $135 million (approved budget)
Regardless of which figure one adopts, CECOT stands as one of the largest and most expensive prison projects in Central America, featuring multiple security rings, advanced surveillance, and capacity for tens of thousands of high-risk inmates.
For anyone researching public spending or infrastructure development in El Salvador, the consensus is that CECOT cost well over $100 million to build, with the final number depending on whether you reference the government’s executed cost or the full allocated budget.
