8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / Central America

Born in El Salvador

About 1 in 1,329 people born in 2023 started life in El Salvador. A boy can expect to live 68 years and a girl 76, up from 42 and 46 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 91% have basic drinking water.

1 in 1,329
odds of being born here
99,400 births · Ranked 105th of 230
68 / 76
years of life, boys / girls
Was 42 / 46 in 1950
$5,641
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 110th of 203 · extrapolated
75%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 28 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 225 in every 1,000 births to 11.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth67.5 years for boys, 76.3 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 511.4 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year47,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.6World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles99%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year86 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.3 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.8, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.78UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.1 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
6%Poorest fifth
11%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $5,641 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 6% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.0% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises4.0% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person2.9% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming14% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed36% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment66% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is San Salvador, with 525,990 people.

75%
live in cities
98%
have electricity at home
91%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
San Salvador525,990
Soyapango329,708
San Miguel247,126
Santa Ana176,661
Mejicanos160,317
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish89%
Spanish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

San Salvador Department1.4 million
San Miguel Department266,221
Santa Ana Department228,086
La Libertad Department204,202
Sonsonate Department116,874
Cuscatlan87,772
Usulutan86,016
San Vicente Department41,504
La Paz Department39,613
Ahuachapan34,102

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 14 regions
  • San Salvador Department1.4 million
  • San Miguel Department266,221
  • Santa Ana Department228,086
  • La Libertad Department204,202
  • Sonsonate Department116,874
  • Cuscatlan87,772
  • Usulutan86,016
  • San Vicente Department41,504
  • La Paz Department39,613
  • Ahuachapan34,102
  • La Union26,807
  • Cabanas20,386
  • Chalatenango Department19,364
  • Morazan16,152

People on the move

About 29% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Mexico, Canada.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States1,569,946
Mexico55,410
Canada49,004
Residents born abroad0.7% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 28.9% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (1.6 million), Mexico (55,410), Canada (49,004)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $10.1 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

25% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

25%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20244,230Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195010; the deadliest, in 1951, killed about 1,100 people (magnitude 6.5)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence5,983 between 1989 and 2022UCDP

Now live it.

Born in El Salvador, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in El Salvador

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences