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El Salvador

Republic of El Salvador

Capital
San Salvador
Region
Latin America & Caribbean
Income group
Upper middle income
Population
6.4M (2025)
Area
21,041 km²
Currency
United States dollar (USD)
Data refreshed 11 Sep 2026Updated 7 h ago89 % coverage · 223 indicators
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At a glance

Twelve headline indicators, latest available year.

Population
113th of 218 · 17th in Latin America
GDP
109th of 187 · 18th in Latin America
GDP per capita
114th of 187 · 28th in Latin America
GDP growth
74th of 187 · 10th in Latin America
Inflation
19th of 177 · 4th in Latin America
Unemployment
52nd of 185 · 6th in Latin America
Life expectancy
135th of 217 · 35th in Latin America
Median age
134th of 216 · 34th in Latin America
Gross debt / GDP
84th of 94 · 19th in Latin America
CO₂ per capita
72nd of 212 · 7th in Latin America
Renewable electricity
12th of 90 · 5th in Latin America
Internet users
126th of 182 · 28th in Latin America

What changed in El Salvador

Statistically notable movements in the latest data.

  1. Record high2023Major
    Median age reached a record high of 27.0 years in 2023 (series since 1950).
  2. Record high2025Major
    GDP reached a record high of US$ 36.7B in 2025 (series since 1965).
  3. Record high2025Major
    GDP per capita reached a record high of US$ 5,767 in 2025 (series since 1965).
  4. Record high2024Major
    CO₂ per capita reached a record high of 1.42 t in 2024 (series since 1870).
  5. Record high2024Major
    CO₂ emissions reached a record high of 9.0 Mt in 2024 (series since 1870).
  6. Sharp rise2025Major
    Government expenditure on education (% of government expenditure) rose 5.3 points to 15.9 % in 2025 (largest rise on record).
  7. Sharp drop2025Major
    Trade balance fell US$ 1.7B to US$ -8.8B in 2025 (largest drop since 2021).
  8. Sharp rise2025Major
    Solar electricity share rose 1.1 points to 20.3 % in 2025 (largest rise since 2023).

Countries similar to El Salvador

Nearest peers by standardised distance on the selected dimension.

  1. 1Ecuador73
  2. 2Paraguay72
  3. 3Honduras70
  4. 4Fiji69
  5. 5Nicaragua69
  6. 6Colombia67
  7. 7Georgia67
  8. 8Nepal66

Country DNA

Percentile rank among all countries on nine dimensions. Descriptive, not a score.

DNA not available for this country yet.

Key facts

Computed from the data — no model-generated numbers.

  • 66.5 % of people used the internet in 2024, up from 15.9 % in 2010.

  • GDP per capita rose from US$ 1,983 in 2000 to US$ 5,767 in 2025 (+190.8 % in current US dollars).

  • Life expectancy gained 4.6 years since 2000, from 67.7 years to 72.3 years in 2024.

  • With a median age of 27.0 years, El Salvador ranks 134th of 216 countries worldwide (2023).

  • 75.5 % of the population lived in urban areas in 2025, compared with 56.6 % in 2000.

  • GDP grew 2.5 % a year on average over 2014–2025.

  • Trade is worth 88.2 % of GDP (2025), above the world median of 79.5 %.

  • Life expectancy of 72.3 years ranks 35th of 42 in Latin America & Caribbean (2024).

  • Central government debt rose from 57.5 % of GDP in 2010 to 107.3 % in 2024.

  • Unemployment of 3.3 % in 2025 is below the Latin America & Caribbean median of 6.3 %.

  • Within Latin America & Caribbean, El Salvador ranks 27th of 33 for GDP per capita (PPP) (intl $ 14,101, 2025).

  • The fertility rate fell from 3.08 births/woman in 2000 to 1.77 births/woman in 2024.

  • Renewables' share of electricity generation rose from 65.5 % in 2010 to 86.5 % in 2025 (+21.1 points).

  • El Salvador's population grew 7.1 % between 2000 and 2025, from 5.9M people to 6.4M people.

  • CO₂ emissions of 1.42 t per person are 0.46× the world median of 3.10 t (2024).

Borders: Guatemala, Honduras

Languages: Spanish

Timeline

Records, reversals and turning points across the whole history.

No events detected.

Explore El Salvador by topic

19 topics · 255 indicators with data.