El Salvador: cost of living

What is the poverty rate in El Salvador?

22.5% of households in El Salvador were in poverty in 2025, according to the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador (BCR) Multi-Purpose Household Survey: 7.7% in extreme poverty and 14.8% in relative poverty. The rate was 24.8% in rural areas and 21.1% in urban areas.

The survey measures poverty by income. A household is in extreme poverty if its income per person does not cover the cost of the basic food basket, and in relative poverty if it does not cover the expanded basket, set at twice the basic one. The figure counts households, not people.

Official sources: BCR: Multi-Purpose Household Survey (EHPM) 2025 (PDF)

What is the average household income in El Salvador?

Average household income in El Salvador was US$763.81 a month in 2025, according to the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador (BCR) household survey. It was US$887.77 in urban areas and US$556.38 in rural areas.

Household income covers all money that a household receives, including wages, self-employment earnings and other sources. The survey asks households about their income, so it can understate some types. The same survey is used to measure poverty, by comparing income per person with the cost of the basic food basket.

Official sources: BCR: Multi-Purpose Household Survey (EHPM) 2025 (PDF)

How fast are food prices rising in El Salvador?

Food and non-alcoholic drink prices in El Salvador were 3.65% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, according to the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador (BCR). Food alone rose 3.67%. Food prices rose 0.53% during the month and 3.95% since December 2025.

Food has the largest weight in the consumer price index, so it contributed most to the monthly change in August (0.17 percentage points of 0.32%). Transport prices rose faster over the year, by 8.23%. The BCR also publishes the monthly cost of the basic food basket.

Official sources: BCR: consumer price bulletin, August 2026 (PDF)

How fast are prices rising in El Salvador?

The IMF puts consumer price inflation in El Salvador at 0.3% in 2025. Since 2005 it has ranged from -0.7% (2015) to 7.2% (2022). It is 27th highest of 29 in Latin America & Caribbean, where the median is 2.1%. Worldwide: 149th of 165.

How much do people in El Salvador spend?

$3,693: that is household consumption per person in El Salvador for 2025, according to the World Bank. No year since 2005 has been higher. Latin America & Caribbean median: $4,566; El Salvador is 12th highest of 15. Worldwide: 67th of 124.

What is the extreme poverty rate in El Salvador?

In 2023, the share of people living on less than $3.00 a day in El Salvador was 4.6%, according to the World Bank. The peak was 16.4% in 2005 and the low 3.0% in 2019. Latin America & Caribbean median: 3.8%; El Salvador is 6th highest of 14. Worldwide: 12th of 59.

What share of El Salvador lives below the poverty line?

The World Bank puts the share of people below the national poverty line in El Salvador at 27.2% in 2023. It is 7th highest of 14 in Latin America & Caribbean, where the median is 26.6%. World rank, highest first: 11th of 39.

What is El Salvador's Gini coefficient?

The latest figure from the World Bank, for 2023, is 39.8. The peak was 48.5 in 2005 and the low 38.0 in 2017. Across Latin America & Caribbean the middle value was 44.4, and El Salvador placed 13th highest of 14. Of 59 countries with 2023 data, 15th highest.

How many people in El Salvador face food insecurity?

According to the FAO, moderate or severe food insecurity in El Salvador was 41.7% in 2024. Its high point since 2015 was 2021, at 48.4%; its low point was 2016, at 41.6%. It is 4th highest of 21 in Latin America & Caribbean, where the median is 28.0%. World rank, highest first: 35th of 135.