Drinking water services in El Salvador
El Salvador: Drinking water services was 58,759 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in El Salvador, 2000–2024
Source: WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
El Salvador recorded 58,759 people for drinking water services in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 31.4% on the previous year and down 66.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in El Salvador peaked at 344,870 people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 58,759 people, in 2024.
El Salvador ranks 73rd of 231 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Drinking water services in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 344,870 people | — |
| 2001 | 342,141 people | -0.8% |
| 2002 | 329,091 people | -3.8% |
| 2003 | 315,886 people | -4.0% |
| 2004 | 302,594 people | -4.2% |
| 2005 | 289,316 people | -4.4% |
| 2006 | 276,110 people | -4.6% |
| 2007 | 263,347 people | -4.6% |
| 2008 | 249,438 people | -5.3% |
| 2009 | 235,912 people | -5.4% |
| 2010 | 222,813 people | -5.6% |
| 2011 | 210,157 people | -5.7% |
| 2012 | 197,943 people | -5.8% |
| 2013 | 186,136 people | -6.0% |
| 2014 | 174,667 people | -6.2% |
| 2015 | 163,473 people | -6.4% |
| 2016 | 152,619 people | -6.6% |
| 2017 | 142,099 people | -6.9% |
| 2018 | 131,872 people | -7.2% |
| 2019 | 122,002 people | -7.5% |
| 2020 | 112,520 people | -7.8% |
| 2021 | 103,049 people | -8.4% |
| 2022 | 94,110 people | -8.7% |
| 2023 | 85,686 people | -9.0% |
| 2024 | 58,759 people | -31.4% |
El Salvador compared with similar countries
- El Salvador's 58,759 people is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 5,292 people, 11.1× the median. (58 countries reporting)
- El Salvador's 58,759 people is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 655.48 people, 89.6× the median. (41 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Drinking water services in El Salvador changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | -31.4% | 85,686 people | 58,759 people |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 294,870 people | 235,912 people | 344,870 people | 10 |
| 2010s | 170,378 people | 122,002 people | 222,813 people | 10 |
| 2020s | 90,825 people | 58,759 people | 112,520 people | 5 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
- 70 North Korea 68,600 people compare
- 71 East Timor 68,246 people compare
- 72 Iran 59,304 people compare
- 74 Gabon 48,745 people compare
- 75 Panama 46,333 people compare
- 76 Solomon Islands 31,324 people compare
More environment data for El Salvador
- Historical exposure to drought — Land soil moisture anomaly -3.31 Percentage change (2025)
- Historical exposure to drought — Cropland soil moisture anomaly -3.1 Percentage change (2025)
- Standard Deviation, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Standard Deviation 0.27 °C (2025)
- Temperature change 1.28 °C (2025)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), annual 2.58 % change on previous year (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per unit 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Total greenhouse gas emissions excluding LULUCF (Mt CO2e), per capita 0 Mt CO2e per person (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), annual growth rate 0.0446 % change on previous year (2024)
- Methane (CH4) emissions from Agriculture (Mt CO2e), per unit of GDP 0 Mt CO2e per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is drinking water services in El Salvador?
- Drinking water services in El Salvador was 58,759 people in 2024, according to WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest drinking water services recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 344,870 people in 2000.
- What is the lowest drinking water services recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 58,759 people in 2024.
- How does El Salvador rank for drinking water services?
- El Salvador ranks 73rd out of 231 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 66.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this El Salvador data come from?
- The figures come from WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Drinking water services. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Number of people using drinking water directly collected from surface waters.