The share of population living on less than 3.2 U.S. dollars per day in El Salvador saw no significant changes in 2022 in comparison to the previous year 2021 and remained at around 8.6 percent. In comparison to 2021, the share decreased not significantly by 0.1 percentage points (-1.15 percent). The poverty headcount ratio refers to the share of the total population living on less than an average of 3.2 dollars per day. 2011 international dollars and purchasing power parity (PPP) have been used to allow comparisons over extended periods without the influence of monetary inflation.Find more key insights for the share of population living on less than 3.2 U.S. dollars per day in countries like Costa Rica and Honduras.

El Salvador poverty rate for 2023 was 29.90%, a 2.8% decline from 2022.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>El Salvador poverty rate for 2022 was <strong>32.70%</strong>, a <strong>0.8% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>El Salvador poverty rate for 2021 was <strong>33.50%</strong>, a <strong>1.2% decline</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>El Salvador poverty rate for 2019 was <strong>34.70%</strong>, a <strong>4.4% decline</strong> from 2018.</li>
</ul>Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) in El Salvador was reported at 26.6 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. El Salvador - Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

El Salvador SV: Multidimensional Poverty Intensity (average share of deprivations experienced by the poor) data was reported at 42.400 % in 2019. This records a decrease from the previous number of 42.600 % for 2018. El Salvador SV: Multidimensional Poverty Intensity (average share of deprivations experienced by the poor) data is updated yearly, averaging 43.200 % from Dec 2014 (Median) to 2019, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 43.900 % in 2014 and a record low of 42.400 % in 2019. El Salvador SV: Multidimensional Poverty Intensity (average share of deprivations experienced by the poor) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s El Salvador – Table SV.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. ;Government statistical agencies. Data for EU countires are from the EUROSTAT;;

SV: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $5.50 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data was reported at 30.700 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 31.800 % for 2015. SV: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $5.50 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data is updated yearly, averaging 44.600 % from Dec 1989 (Median) to 2016, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 60.100 % in 1991 and a record low of 30.700 % in 2016. SV: Poverty Headcount Ratio at $5.50 a Day: 2011 PPP: % of Population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s El Salvador – Table SV.World Bank: Poverty. Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. The aggregated numbers for low- and middle-income countries correspond to the totals of 6 regions in PovcalNet, which include low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia). See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

As of 2023 in El Salvador, the share of the population living in extreme poverty conditions was higher in rural areas accounting for the **** percent of the people. The national average was *** percent.

Urban poverty rate of El Salvador surged by 8.78% from 26.2 % in 2013 to 28.5 % in 2014. Since the 15.54% drop in 2012, urban poverty rate reduced by 4.68% in 2014. Urban poverty rate is the percentage of the urban population living below the national urban poverty line.

Rural poverty rate of El Salvador jumped by 5.28% from 36.0 % in 2013 to 37.9 % in 2014. Since the 13.75% slump in 2012, rural poverty rate slumped by 12.47% in 2014. Rural poverty rate is the percentage of the rural population living below the national rural poverty line.

This report proposes an agenda for building on gains to re-accelerate poverty reduction among Salvadorans. The last World Bank Poverty Assessment for El Salvador, from 2015, proposed two key policy recommendations: (a) effective pro-poor spending and (b) reduction of crime and violence through better access to jobs and education. Nine years later, the authorities have managed to achieve a substantial reduction in crime and violence and have indicated an intent to build on such progress to establish a path toward an El Salvador where shared prosperity is achievable. In this report, we propose a three pillar structure to address poverty and inequality reduction: jobs, services, and social protection, with a cross-cutting set of primary conditions that articulates this structure.

This background note documents trends and the current situation on poverty and inequality in El Salvador. We examine the current trends in poverty and inequality in El Salvador, comparing them with other countries in the region, identifying primary drivers, and offering a demographic and geographic profile of the poor, based on the latest available data. The analysis covers three periods, 2000–2009, 2009–2019, and 2019–2023, focusing on the latest period to assess the pre- and post-pandemic conditions

Historical dataset showing El Salvador poverty rate by year from 1989 to 2023.

Contains data from the World Bank's data portal covering the following topics which also exist as individual datasets on HDX: Agriculture and Rural Development, Aid Effectiveness, Economy and Growth, Education, Energy and Mining, Environment, Financial Sector, Health, Infrastructure, Social Protection and Labor, Poverty, Private Sector, Public Sector, Science and Technology, Social Development, Urban Development, Gender, Climate Change, External Debt, Trade.

El Salvador Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: World Bank: % of total population data was reported at 5.500 % in 2022. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.300 % for 2021. El Salvador Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: World Bank: % of total population data is updated yearly, averaging 6.650 % from Dec 2010 (Median) to 2022, with 12 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 13.000 % in 2010 and a record low of 4.400 % in 2019. El Salvador Multidimensional Poverty Headcount Ratio: World Bank: % of total population data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s El Salvador – Table SV.World Bank.WDI: Social: Poverty and Inequality. The multidimensional poverty headcount ratio (World Bank) is the percentage of a population living in poverty according to the World Bank's Multidimensional Poverty Measure. The Multidimensional Poverty Measure includes three dimensions – monetary poverty, education, and basic infrastructure services – to capture a more complete picture of poverty.;World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are mostly from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see http://pip.worldbank.org.;;The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than 2000 household surveys across 169 countries. See the Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP) for details (www.pip.worldbank.org).

This note measures vulnerability to poverty in El Salvador based on the approach proposed in De l a Fuente and Serio (2024). Results show that around 34 percent of households are vulnerable to poverty, that is, there are not poor, but they are exposed to hazard events that could affect human beings, their livelihoods and assets, and lead them to fall into poverty. The results provide a comprehensive and new perspective on the challenges faced by households in El Salvador, especially those that are more likely to be poor either because of their expected level of income or because of the risks to which they are exposed.

This statistic shows the poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines in El Salvador from 2009 to 2019. In 2019, the poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines in El Salvador amounted to 22.8 percent of the population.

Fiscal policy in El Salvador has the capacity to consolidate economic growth, providing greater resilience to the population against possible risks or boosting income generation. This note analyzes the impact of subsidies for energy, water and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), on poverty and household welfare. We use the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) approach with data from the Multipurpose Household Survey of El Salvador (EHPM) to simulate different policy scenarios. The results indicate that if subsidies were eliminated, poverty would increase by 1.3 percentage points and extreme poverty by 0.5 percentage points, negatively affecting the welfare of families. However, in the scenario where the elimination of subsidies is accompanied by an increase of other social transfers, are transformed into targeted subsidies, or the previous scenarios are combined, the impact on poverty could be mitigated. These results show that there is room for efficiency gains on the goal of improving households’ welfare and promoting equitable results.

In 2023, in El Salvador, the proportion of the population living in poverty conditions was slightly higher in rural areas, accounting for a total share of **** percent. Additionally, rural areas also had the highest share of extreme poverty among the different geographical residencies.

22.3 (%) in 2019. Poverty headcount ratio at $5.50 a day is the percentage of the population living on less than $5.50 a day at 2011 international prices. As a result of revisions in PPP exchange rates, poverty rates for individual countries cannot be compared with poverty rates reported in earlier editions.

El Salvador enjoys a significant demographic bonus: one in five Salvadorans is between 15 and 24 years old. Ensuring the well-being of this segment of the population is doubly beneficial: it improves the living conditions of a large sector of the population and contributes to improving human capital that will bear fruit for several decades. In both social and economic terms, it is a profitable investment. However, it is worrying to note that there is a higher incidence of extreme poverty and vulnerability in the young population than in the rest of the population. To achieve improvements in human capital, education and employment must be the primary focus areas. In education, we document a low percentage of young people who attend and remain in school, and a high level of learning poverty. In addition, a high percentage of young people do not study or work. On the other hand, the percentage of young men who study and work has fallen in recent years, while the percentage of women has remained constant. In employment, we find about half of young people active in the labor market, although most employed young people have informal jobs, with men having a higher incidence in informality. In terms of wages, the monthly labor income of young people is 17 percent lower than that of adults, and in the aggregate, the total income of young people represents 12 percent of the income generated by workers in El Salvador. In addition, gender gaps differ according to the type of employment. In general, men receive a higher salary than women. This is also true in the case of dependent employment. However, in self-employment, the situation is the other way around. The decompositions made for all three cases indicate that women should receive a higher salary. But, in general, there is evidence of men being favored. In this note, we present an overview of the situation of young people in El Salvador, paying special attention to their conditions in education and work and emphasizing gender differences and the poverty conditions in their households.

Using panel data from the Multipurpose Household Survey (EHPM) for the period 2018-2022, this note analyzes the dynamics of poverty and labor transitions in El Salvador. We compute transition matrices and identify the key associated factors to these transitions. Labor transitions, more specifically the incorporation of new household members into the labor market, are key determinants of the dynamics of poverty. In a typical year in our sample, about one third of poor households leave poverty and about one half of extremely poor households leave extreme poverty. Initial income status is key to defining transitions since the probability of moving out of or into poverty increases the closer the income is to the poverty line.