Gini coefficient in El Salvador
El Salvador: Gini coefficient was 0.398 in 2023. ▼ Falling
Gini coefficient in El Salvador, 1989–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for gini coefficient in El Salvador is 0.398, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 2.7% on the previous year and down 8.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, gini coefficient in El Salvador peaked at 0.5437 in 1998 and was at its lowest, 0.3801, in 2017.
El Salvador ranks 28th of 120 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 29 years of available data.
Gini coefficient in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 0.4871 | — |
| 1991 | 0.5379 | +10.4% |
| 1995 | 0.4985 | -7.3% |
| 1996 | 0.5096 | +2.2% |
| 1998 | 0.5437 | +6.7% |
| 1999 | 0.5208 | -4.2% |
| 2000 | 0.5146 | -1.2% |
| 2001 | 0.5134 | -0.2% |
| 2002 | 0.5185 | +1.0% |
| 2003 | 0.5043 | -2.7% |
| 2004 | 0.478 | -5.2% |
| 2005 | 0.4847 | +1.4% |
| 2006 | 0.4569 | -5.7% |
| 2007 | 0.4522 | -1.0% |
| 2008 | 0.4689 | +3.7% |
| 2009 | 0.4582 | -2.3% |
| 2010 | 0.4351 | -5.0% |
| 2011 | 0.4232 | -2.7% |
| 2012 | 0.4183 | -1.2% |
| 2013 | 0.4336 | +3.7% |
| 2014 | 0.4156 | -4.1% |
| 2015 | 0.4055 | -2.4% |
| 2016 | 0.3998 | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 0.3801 | -4.9% |
| 2018 | 0.3861 | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 0.3878 | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 0.3901 | +0.6% |
| 2022 | 0.3875 | -0.7% |
| 2023 | 0.398 | +2.7% |
El Salvador compared with similar countries
- El Salvador's 0.398 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.3588, 1.1× the median. (35 countries reporting)
- El Salvador's 0.398 is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 0.4447, 90% of the median. (18 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 0.4871 | 0.4871 | 0.4871 | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.5221 | 0.4985 | 0.5437 | 5 |
| 2000s | 0.485 | 0.4522 | 0.5185 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.4085 | 0.3801 | 0.4351 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3919 | 0.3875 | 0.398 | 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 gini coefficient in El Salvador?
- Gini coefficient in El Salvador was 0.398 in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest gini coefficient recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 0.5437 in 1998.
- What is the lowest gini coefficient recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.3801 in 2017.
- How does El Salvador rank for gini coefficient?
- El Salvador ranks 28th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is gini coefficient rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 Gini coefficient. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
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About this data
The Gini coefficient measures inequality on a scale from 0 to 1. Higher values indicate higher inequality.