# Honduras and El Salvador compared Honduras and El Salvador side by side: 42 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 2 events their chronicles record of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/hnd-vs-slv Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Honduras: 1821 — Honduras declares independence from Spain with the Central American provinces - El Salvador: 1821 — El Salvador declares independence from Spain with the Central American provinces ## Economy | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $37 B | 2024 | $35 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $3,426 | 2024 | $5,580 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 3.6% | 2024 | 2.6% | 2024 | | Inflation | 4.6% | 2024 | 0.9% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 91.1% | 2024 | 84.7% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 11 m | 2024 | 6.3 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 73.0 yrs | 2024 | 72.3 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 58.8% | 2024 | 75.1% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 2.5 | 2024 | 1.8 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 45.4 | 2024 | 43.0 | 2024 | | Political stability | 56.2 | 2024 | 66.0 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 39.3 | 2024 | 47.8 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 45.0 | 2024 | 52.1 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 36.7 | 2024 | 44.7 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 22.7 | 2024 | 36.2 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 7.7% | 2023 | 9.3% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.49 | 2020 | 1.62 | 2023 | | Under-5 mortality | 15.0 | 2024 | 10.0 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 79.0% | 2024 | 96.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 65.5% | 2024 | — | — | ## Education | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 88.3% | 2024 | 89.8% | 2024 | | Education spending | 4.5% | 2023 | 3.3% | 2024 | | Primary enrolment | 79.0% | 2024 | 89.9% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 51.8% | 2024 | 62.1% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 23.3% | 2024 | 32.8% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.1% | 2019 | 0.1% | 2023 | | Researchers (per million) | 188 | 2019 | 55 | 2023 | | Internet users | 58.6% | 2024 | 66.5% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 71 | 2024 | 177 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 3.9% | 2024 | 5.5% | 2024 | ## Geography | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 111,890 km² | 2023 | 20,720 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 56.3% | 2023 | 27.5% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 32.0% | 2023 | 57.7% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 1.1 | 2024 | 1.5 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 45.9% | 2021 | 21.9% | 2021 | ## Resources | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 1.2% | 2021 | 0.5% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.4% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 0.8% | 2021 | 0.5% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 95.6% | 2023 | 98.3% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Honduras | Observed | El Salvador | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 1.6% | 2024 | 1.2% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $581 M | 2024 | $425 M | 2024 | | Armed forces | 23,000 | 2020 | 42,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/HND.md and https://terralore.co/country/SLV.md. ## Entangled histories (2 events) Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources. - 1824: **Federal Republic of Central America** — The provinces adopt the constitution of the Federal Republic of Central America, a union of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica in which the Salvadoran Francisco Morazan becomes a leading figure. (from the El Salvador chronicle; sources: United Provinces of Central America; Central American Federation) - 1969 CE: **War with El Salvador** — A brief border war with El Salvador, rooted in migration disputes, erupts amid a football tournament and hardens the military's role. (from the Honduras chronicle; sources: Honduras: History) ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/HND/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/SLV/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Honduras and El Salvador compared", terralore.co/compare/hnd-vs-slv, retrieved .