Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in El Salvador
El Salvador: Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median was 16.2% in 2023. ▼ Falling
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in El Salvador, 1989–2023
Source: World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2023, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in El Salvador stood at 16.2%.
The figure is down 4.2% on the previous year and down 1.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in El Salvador peaked at 26.9% in 1998 and was at its lowest, 14.4%, in 2015.
El Salvador ranks 26th 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.
Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 25.5% | — |
| 1991 | 24.2% | -5.0% |
| 1995 | 21.1% | -12.9% |
| 1996 | 22.0% | +4.1% |
| 1998 | 26.9% | +22.7% |
| 1999 | 24.3% | -9.7% |
| 2000 | 23.3% | -4.2% |
| 2001 | 23.6% | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 23.6% | +0.3% |
| 2003 | 24.1% | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 20.9% | -13.6% |
| 2005 | 21.3% | +2.3% |
| 2006 | 18.2% | -14.8% |
| 2007 | 16.2% | -10.7% |
| 2008 | 18.6% | +14.5% |
| 2009 | 18.5% | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 18.3% | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 15.9% | -13.2% |
| 2012 | 15.7% | -1.3% |
| 2013 | 16.3% | +4.2% |
| 2014 | 15.6% | -4.7% |
| 2015 | 14.4% | -7.5% |
| 2016 | 16.3% | +13.1% |
| 2017 | 14.5% | -11.1% |
| 2018 | 15.3% | +5.7% |
| 2019 | 14.6% | -4.9% |
| 2021 | 17.0% | +17.1% |
| 2022 | 16.9% | -0.9% |
| 2023 | 16.2% | -4.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 25.5% | 25.5% | 25.5% | 1 |
| 1990s | 23.7% | 21.1% | 26.9% | 5 |
| 2000s | 20.8% | 16.2% | 24.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.7% | 14.4% | 18.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.7% | 16.2% | 17.0% | 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 relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in El Salvador?
- Relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median in El Salvador was 16.2% in 2023, according to World Bank Poverty and Inequality Platform (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 26.9% in 1998.
- What is the lowest relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 14.4% in 2015.
- How does El Salvador rank for relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median?
- El Salvador ranks 26th out of 120 countries with data for 2023.
- Is relative poverty: share of population below 50% of the median rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.0%. 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 Relative poverty: Share of population below 50% of the median. 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
Percentage of population living in households with an income or consumption below 50% of the median.