Drinking water services in rural areas in El Salvador
El Salvador: Drinking water services in rural areas was 58,759 people in 2024. ▼ Falling
Drinking water services in rural areas 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 rural areas in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 11.7% on the previous year and down 61.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, drinking water services in rural areas in El Salvador peaked at 323,455 people in 2000 and was at its lowest, 58,759 people, in 2024.
El Salvador ranks 69th of 178 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 rural areas in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 323,455 people | — |
| 2001 | 320,435 people | -0.9% |
| 2002 | 307,455 people | -4.1% |
| 2003 | 294,352 people | -4.3% |
| 2004 | 281,190 people | -4.5% |
| 2005 | 268,068 people | -4.7% |
| 2006 | 255,040 people | -4.9% |
| 2007 | 242,408 people | -5.0% |
| 2008 | 228,491 people | -5.7% |
| 2009 | 214,973 people | -5.9% |
| 2010 | 201,892 people | -6.1% |
| 2011 | 189,262 people | -6.3% |
| 2012 | 177,081 people | -6.4% |
| 2013 | 165,318 people | -6.6% |
| 2014 | 153,911 people | -6.9% |
| 2015 | 142,804 people | -7.2% |
| 2016 | 132,066 people | -7.5% |
| 2017 | 121,695 people | -7.9% |
| 2018 | 111,656 people | -8.2% |
| 2019 | 102,002 people | -8.6% |
| 2020 | 92,720 people | -9.1% |
| 2021 | 83,455 people | -10.0% |
| 2022 | 74,738 people | -10.4% |
| 2023 | 66,538 people | -11.0% |
| 2024 | 58,759 people | -11.7% |
El Salvador compared with similar countries
- El Salvador's 58,759 people is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 845.16 people, 69.5× the median. (55 countries reporting)
- El Salvador's 58,759 people is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 10,977 people, 5.4× the median. (28 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 273,587 people | 214,973 people | 323,455 people | 10 |
| 2010s | 149,769 people | 102,002 people | 201,892 people | 10 |
| 2020s | 75,242 people | 58,759 people | 92,720 people | 5 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
- 66 North Korea 68,600 people compare
- 67 East Timor 68,246 people compare
- 68 Dominican Republic 66,635 people compare
- 70 Iran 55,235 people compare
- 71 Panama 46,333 people compare
- 72 Gabon 42,046 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 rural areas in El Salvador?
- Drinking water services in rural areas 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 in rural areas recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 323,455 people in 2000.
- What is the lowest drinking water services in rural areas recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 58,759 people in 2024.
- How does El Salvador rank for drinking water services in rural areas?
- El Salvador ranks 69th out of 178 countries with data for 2024.
- Is drinking water services in rural areas rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 61.8%. 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 in rural areas. 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.