Number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador
El Salvador: Number of people living in extreme poverty was 6.02 million people in 2023. ▲ Rising
Number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador, 1989–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
El Salvador recorded 6.02 million people for number of people living in extreme poverty in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.1% on the previous year and up 5.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador peaked at 6.04 million people in 2019 and was at its lowest, 3.91 million people, in 1991.
El Salvador ranks 83rd of 120 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 29 years of available data.
Number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 3.99 million people | — |
| 1991 | 3.91 million people | -2.1% |
| 1995 | 4.65 million people | +19.1% |
| 1996 | 4.57 million people | -1.7% |
| 1998 | 4.33 million people | -5.3% |
| 1999 | 4.59 million people | +5.9% |
| 2000 | 4.85 million people | +5.7% |
| 2001 | 4.81 million people | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 4.82 million people | +0.1% |
| 2003 | 4.74 million people | -1.6% |
| 2004 | 5.03 million people | +6.0% |
| 2005 | 5.02 million people | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 5.24 million people | +4.5% |
| 2007 | 5.46 million people | +4.1% |
| 2008 | 5.27 million people | -3.5% |
| 2009 | 5.30 million people | +0.6% |
| 2010 | 5.38 million people | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 5.48 million people | +1.8% |
| 2012 | 5.59 million people | +2.1% |
| 2013 | 5.70 million people | +1.9% |
| 2014 | 5.73 million people | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 5.86 million people | +2.1% |
| 2016 | 5.84 million people | -0.2% |
| 2017 | 5.93 million people | +1.5% |
| 2018 | 5.97 million people | +0.6% |
| 2019 | 6.04 million people | +1.2% |
| 2021 | 5.93 million people | -1.7% |
| 2022 | 5.95 million people | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 6.02 million people | +1.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 3.99 million people | 3.99 million people | 3.99 million people | 1 |
| 1990s | 4.41 million people | 3.91 million people | 4.65 million people | 5 |
| 2000s | 5.05 million people | 4.74 million people | 5.46 million people | 10 |
| 2010s | 5.75 million people | 5.38 million people | 6.04 million people | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.97 million people | 5.93 million people | 6.02 million people | 3 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
More poverty & inequality data for El Salvador
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 7 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.77 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 2,819 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate 1.53 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 20.61 (2023)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 20.6% (2023)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador?
- Number of people living in extreme poverty in El Salvador was 6.02 million people in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 6.04 million people in 2019.
- What is the lowest number of people living in extreme poverty recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.91 million people in 1991.
- How does El Salvador rank for number of people living in extreme poverty?
- El Salvador ranks 83rd out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is number of people living in extreme poverty rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this El Salvador data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in extreme poverty. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 29 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people living in households with an income or consumption above $3 per day.