Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in El Salvador
El Salvador: Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas was 75.7% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. 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 %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in El Salvador is 75.7%, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 25 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.6% on the previous year and down 8.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in El Salvador peaked at 90.3% in 2000 and was at its lowest, 75.7%, in 2024.
That places El Salvador 52nd out of 105 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 25 years of available data.
Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in El Salvador, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 90.3% | — |
| 2001 | 90.3% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 90.1% | -0.1% |
| 2003 | 89.5% | -0.7% |
| 2004 | 88.9% | -0.7% |
| 2005 | 88.2% | -0.7% |
| 2006 | 87.6% | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 87.0% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 86.3% | -0.7% |
| 2009 | 85.7% | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 85.1% | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 84.4% | -0.8% |
| 2012 | 83.8% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 83.1% | -0.8% |
| 2014 | 82.5% | -0.8% |
| 2015 | 81.8% | -0.8% |
| 2016 | 81.2% | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 80.5% | -0.8% |
| 2018 | 79.8% | -0.8% |
| 2019 | 79.2% | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 78.5% | -0.8% |
| 2021 | 77.8% | -0.9% |
| 2022 | 77.0% | -1.0% |
| 2023 | 76.2% | -1.0% |
| 2024 | 75.7% | -0.6% |
El Salvador compared with similar countries
- El Salvador's 75.7% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 75.7%, 1.0× the median. (31 countries reporting)
- El Salvador's 75.7% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 76.0%, 100% of the median. (17 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 88.4% | 85.7% | 90.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 82.1% | 79.2% | 85.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 77.0% | 75.7% | 78.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near El Salvador
- 49 Azerbaijan 76.5% compare
- 50 Guyana 76.0% compare
- 51 Vietnam 75.8% compare
- 53 South Africa 75.6% compare
- 54 Myanmar 74.2% compare
- 55 Trinidad and Tobago 73.1% 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 using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in El Salvador?
- Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas in El Salvador was 75.7% 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 using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas recorded in El Salvador?
- The highest recorded value was 90.3% in 2000.
- What is the lowest using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas recorded in El Salvador?
- The lowest recorded value was 75.7% in 2024.
- How does El Salvador rank for using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas?
- El Salvador ranks 52nd out of 105 countries with data for 2024.
- Is using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas rising or falling in El Salvador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.2%. 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 Using safely managed drinking water in urban vs. rural areas. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 25 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Proportion of people using an improved drinking water source that is located on premises, available when needed and free from fecal and priority chemical contamination.