Rural population in El Salvador
El Salvador: Rural population was 1.56 million in 2025. ▼ Falling
Latest (2025)
1.56 million
Change on year
down 1.4%
World rank
111th
of 218 countries
All-time high
2.78 million
in 1992
All-time low
1.56 million
in 2025
Years of data
66
1960–2025
Rural population in El Salvador, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
El Salvador recorded 1.56 million for rural population in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 66 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.4% on the previous year and down 16.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in El Salvador peaked at 2.78 million in 1992 and was at its lowest, 1.56 million, in 2025.
El Salvador ranks 111th of 218 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 66 years of available data.
Rural population in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 1.72 million | — |
| 1961 | 1.76 million | +2.6% |
| 1962 | 1.81 million | +2.6% |
| 1963 | 1.86 million | +2.5% |
| 1964 | 1.90 million | +2.6% |
| 1965 | 1.95 million | +2.7% |
| 1966 | 2.01 million | +2.7% |
| 1967 | 2.06 million | +2.7% |
| 1968 | 2.12 million | +2.7% |
| 1969 | 2.17 million | +2.6% |
| 1970 | 2.22 million | +2.4% |
| 1971 | 2.27 million | +2.2% |
| 1972 | 2.32 million | +2.1% |
| 1973 | 2.36 million | +2.0% |
| 1974 | 2.41 million | +1.8% |
| 1975 | 2.45 million | +1.7% |
| 1976 | 2.49 million | +1.5% |
| 1977 | 2.52 million | +1.4% |
| 1978 | 2.56 million | +1.4% |
| 1979 | 2.59 million | +1.1% |
| 1980 | 2.60 million | +0.4% |
| 1981 | 2.59 million | -0.3% |
| 1982 | 2.59 million | +0.1% |
| 1983 | 2.61 million | +0.8% |
| 1984 | 2.63 million | +0.8% |
| 1985 | 2.66 million | +0.9% |
| 1986 | 2.68 million | +0.8% |
| 1987 | 2.70 million | +0.8% |
| 1988 | 2.72 million | +0.8% |
| 1989 | 2.74 million | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 2.75 million | +0.6% |
| 1991 | 2.77 million | +0.5% |
| 1992 | 2.78 million | +0.3% |
| 1993 | 2.78 million | -0.0% |
| 1994 | 2.76 million | -0.5% |
| 1995 | 2.74 million | -0.7% |
| 1996 | 2.72 million | -0.9% |
| 1997 | 2.69 million | -1.1% |
| 1998 | 2.66 million | -1.2% |
| 1999 | 2.62 million | -1.4% |
| 2000 | 2.58 million | -1.5% |
| 2001 | 2.54 million | -1.6% |
| 2002 | 2.49 million | -1.8% |
| 2003 | 2.44 million | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 2.39 million | -2.1% |
| 2005 | 2.34 million | -2.2% |
| 2006 | 2.29 million | -2.3% |
| 2007 | 2.24 million | -2.1% |
| 2008 | 2.19 million | -2.0% |
| 2009 | 2.15 million | -2.1% |
| 2010 | 2.10 million | -2.2% |
| 2011 | 2.05 million | -2.3% |
| 2012 | 2.00 million | -2.3% |
| 2013 | 1.96 million | -2.2% |
| 2014 | 1.92 million | -2.2% |
| 2015 | 1.87 million | -2.2% |
| 2016 | 1.84 million | -2.0% |
| 2017 | 1.80 million | -2.1% |
| 2018 | 1.76 million | -2.2% |
| 2019 | 1.72 million | -2.3% |
| 2020 | 1.68 million | -2.1% |
| 2021 | 1.65 million | -2.0% |
| 2022 | 1.62 million | -1.4% |
| 2023 | 1.60 million | -1.3% |
| 2024 | 1.58 million | -1.4% |
| 2025 | 1.56 million | -1.4% |
El Salvador compared with similar countries
- El Salvador's 1.56 million is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 1.53 million, 1.0× the median. (59 countries reporting)
- El Salvador's 1.56 million is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 622,054, 2.5× the median. (42 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 1.94 million | 1.72 million | 2.17 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.42 million | 2.22 million | 2.59 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 2.65 million | 2.59 million | 2.74 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 2.73 million | 2.62 million | 2.78 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 2.37 million | 2.15 million | 2.58 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.90 million | 1.72 million | 2.10 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.62 million | 1.56 million | 1.68 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
More agriculture & rural data for El Salvador
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 2.84 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.044 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 253.9 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -1.41 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.2448 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 4.4% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 4.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.7% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.0% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in El Salvador?
- Rural population in El Salvador was 1.56 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 2.78 million in 1992.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.56 million in 2025.
- How does El Salvador rank for rural population?
- El Salvador ranks 111th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 16.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this El Salvador data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.