El Salvador Population
El Salvador had an estimated population of 6,365,503 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 112nd most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.08% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +0.43% a year.
El Salvador at a glance
How El Salvador's population is changing
El Salvador's population is growing: +0.43% a year, which works out to about +27,369 people per year, or +75 a day. Births (15.6 per 1,000) and deaths (7.5 per 1,000) alone would give +0.81% a year; net migration removes about 23,934 people a year (−0.38%). Roughly one in every 1,291 people on Earth lives in El Salvador.
Population of El Salvador since 1960
In 1960, El Salvador had 2,791,459 people. By 2025 that was 6,365,503 — 2.3× larger. The fastest growth came between 1960 and 1970, when the population rose by 31%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 2,791,459 | — |
| 1970 | 3,668,796 | +31.4% |
| 1980 | 4,540,382 | +23.8% |
| 1990 | 5,399,726 | +18.9% |
| 2000 | 5,943,366 | +10.1% |
| 2010 | 6,068,249 | +2.1% |
| 2020 | 6,234,673 | +2.7% |
| 2025 | 6,365,503 | +2.1% |
El Salvador from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put El Salvador at about 248,000 people in 1800; the UN estimates 6,365,506 in 2025 (26× 1800) and projects 5,073,225 for 2100 in its medium scenario. The population is projected to peak around 2047 at 6,669,838 and decline afterwards.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 248,000 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 366,470 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 839,397 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 2,183,513 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 5,943,363 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 6,365,506 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 6,663,348 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 6,175,899 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 5,073,225 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in El Salvador
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 6,365,503. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Salvador | 1,615,178 | UN urban centre | 25.37% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Soyapango | 329,708 | GeoNames settlement | 5.18% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 3 | Santa Ana | 214,624 | UN urban centre | 3.37% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 4 | Sonsonate | 177,507 | UN urban centre | 2.79% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 5 | San Miguel | 166,162 | UN urban centre | 2.61% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 6 | Mejicanos | 160,317 | GeoNames settlement | 2.52% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 7 | Santa Tecla | 124,694 | GeoNames settlement | 1.96% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 8 | Apopa | 112,158 | GeoNames settlement | 1.76% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 9 | Delgado | 71,594 | GeoNames settlement | 1.12% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 10 | Usulután | 64,355 | UN urban centre | 1.01% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
How El Salvador compares
El Salvador has almost the same population as Bulgaria (6,433,302).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs El Salvador | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #110 |  Republic of the Congo | 6,484,437 | +2% | compare → |
| #111 |  Bulgaria | 6,433,302 | +1% | compare → |
| #113 |  Singapore | 6,111,175 | −4% | compare → |
| #114 |  Denmark | 6,009,169 | −6% | compare → |
Compare El Salvador with any country →
Same region (Latin America & Caribbean): Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela.
Explore around El Salvador
Land neighbours (2)
Guatemala 18,687,881 · 2.9× the population · compare
Honduras 11,005,850 · 1.7× the population · compare
El Salvador's 2 neighbours together hold 29,693,731 people — 4.7× El Salvador's population. The most populous is Guatemala (18,687,881).
In its region
El Salvador is the 17th most populous of the 42 economies in Latin America & Caribbean, holding 1.0% of the region's 666,592,570 people.
Rankings
Largest countries, fastest-growing, oldest populations, densest — all rankings.
Cities
San Salvador, Soyapango, Santa Ana, Sonsonate, San Miguel, Mejicanos, Santa Tecla, Apopa — all El Salvador's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · El Salvador when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.