# El Salvador — national dossier El Salvador — economy, society, governance, health, education, technology, geography, resources and military in one sourced dossier: 43 indicators, each… Canonical: https://terralore.co/country/SLV Updated: 2026-08-14 (latest domain refresh; each figure carries its own observation year) ## Overview - Official name: Republic of El Salvador - Capital: San Salvador - Region: Central America, North America - Population: 6.2 m - Area: 21,041 km² - Languages: Spanish - Currency: United States dollar (USD) A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero. Each figure shows the year it was observed — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Economy | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | GDP | $37 B | 2025 | World Development Indicators | | GDP per capita | $5,767 | 2025 | World Development Indicators | | GDP growth | 3.9% | 2025 | World Development Indicators | | Inflation | 0.3% | 2025 | World Development Indicators | | Trade openness | 88.2% | 2025 | World Development Indicators | ## Society | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Population | 6.4 m | 2025 | World Development Indicators | | Life expectancy | 72.3 yrs | 2024 | World Development Indicators | | Urban population | 75.5% | 2025 | World Development Indicators | | Fertility rate | 1.8 | 2024 | World Development Indicators | | Literacy rate | 89.8% | 2024 | World Development Indicators | ## Governance | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 43.0 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) | | Political stability | 66.0 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) | | Government effectiveness | 47.8 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) | | Regulatory quality | 52.1 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) | | Rule of law | 44.7 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) | | Control of corruption | 36.2 | 2024 | Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) | ## Health | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 9.3% | 2023 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) | | Physicians | 1.62 | 2023 | Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) | | Under-5 mortality | 10.0 | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) | | Measles immunisation | 96.0% | 2024 | Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) | ## Education | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 89.8% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) | | Education spending | 3.3% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) | | Primary enrolment | 89.9% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) | | Secondary enrolment | 62.1% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) | | Tertiary enrolment | 32.8% | 2024 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) | ## Technology | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | R&D spending | 0.1% | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) | | Researchers (per million) | 55 | 2023 | R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) | | Internet users | 66.5% | 2024 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) | | Mobile subscriptions | 177 | 2024 | ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) | | High-tech exports | 5.5% | 2024 | World Development Indicators | ## Geography | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Land area | 20,720 km² | 2023 | World Development Indicators | | Forest area | 27.5% | 2023 | World Development Indicators | | Agricultural land | 57.7% | 2023 | World Development Indicators | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 1.5 | 2024 | World Development Indicators | | Renewable energy | 21.9% | 2021 | World Development Indicators | ## Resources | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 0.5% | 2021 | World Development Indicators | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | World Development Indicators | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | World Development Indicators | | Forest rents | 0.5% | 2021 | World Development Indicators | | Electricity access | 98.7% | 2024 | World Development Indicators | ## Military | Metric | Value | Observed | Source | |---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 1.2% | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) | | Defense spending | $425 M | 2024 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) | | Armed forces | 42,000 | 2020 | Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) | Every metric above is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Machine-readable claims — every figure above as an addressable claim ID (TL:SLV::) with value, source, license and a ready citation string: https://terralore.co/country/SLV.claims.json History: "From the Pipil land of Cuzcatlan and the ash-buried Maya village of Joya de Ceren to independence from Spain in 1821, a coffee republic ruled by an oligarchy, the slaughter of 1932, the civil war of 1980 to 1992, and the gang crackdown of the Bukele era." — the sourced chronicle is at https://terralore.co/country/SLV/chronicle.md (6 eras, 22 events). ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · 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 2026-08-14 · 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 2026-08-14 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Citation template: Terralore, "El Salvador — national dossier", terralore.co/country/SLV, retrieved .