Demographics of El Salvador

The demographics of El Salvador tell us about the people who live there. El Salvador is a country in Central America with a population of about 6.03 million people. Understanding the demographics helps us learn about the culture, history, and way of life for the people in El Salvador.

Salvadoran Child

Most people in El Salvador, about 86.3%, have mixed heritage from both Native Salvadoran and European, mainly Spanish, ancestors. Another 12.7% of the population has pure European ancestry. A smaller group, about 1%, are of pure indigenous heritage. There are also very small numbers of people who are black or from other backgrounds.

This information about the population helps us understand the diversity and background of the people in El Salvador. It shows how different groups have come together to form the country we see today.

Population size and structure

El Salvador's population was around 6.3 million in 2021, up from about 2.2 million in 1950. In 2010, about 32% of people were younger than 15, 61% were between 15 and 65, and about 7% were 65 or older.

Structure of the population

Census population
Year	Pop.	±%
1930	1,434,361	—
1950	1,855,917	+29.4%
1961	2,510,984	+35.3%
1971	3,554,648	+41.6%
1992	5,118,599	+44.0%
2007	5,744,113	+12.2%
2024	6,029,976	+5.0%

Year	Total population	Proportion per age group
Year	Total population	Ages 0–14	Ages 15–64	Ages 65+
1950	2,200,000	42.7%	53.3%	4.0%
1955	2,433,000	43.6%	52.6%	3.8%
1960	2,773,000	45.1%	51.1%	3.7%
1965	3,244,000	46.3%	50.1%	3.7%
1970	3,736,000	46.4%	49.9%	3.6%
1975	4,232,000	45.8%	50.5%	3.7%
1980	4,661,000	45.2%	50.9%	3.9%
1985	5,004,000	44.1%	51.8%	4.2%
1990	5,344,000	41.7%	53.7%	4.6%
1995	5,748,000	39.6%	55.5%	4.9%
2000	5,888,000	36.6%	57.9%	5.5%
2005	6,052,000	34.8%	58.9%	6.3%
2010	6,184,000	31.6%	61.3%	7.1%
2015	6,325,000	28.4%	63.9%	7.8%
2020	6,486,000	26.6%	64.8%	8.7%

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 719 371	3 024 742	5 744 113	100%
0–4	283 272	272 621	555 893	9.68%
5–9	349 150	335 577	684 727	11.92%
10–14	359 523	346 824	706 347	12.30%
15–19	298 384	302 181	600 565	10.46%
20–24	228 001	258 541	486 542	8.47%
25–29	206 963	250 927	457 890	7.97%
30–34	178 400	223 849	402 249	7.00%
35–39	156 514	196 633	353 147	6.15%
40–44	132 218	171 413	303 631	5.29%
45–49	109 957	142 165	252 122	4.39%
50–54	95 275	120 459	215 734	3.76%
55–59	81 718	101 357	183 075	3.19%
60–64	68 207	83 657	151 864	2.64%
65–69	55 781	69 376	125 157	2.18%
70–74	43 449	54 008	97 457	1.70%
75–79	33 658	42 326	75 984	1.32%
80–84	20 401	26 469	46 870	0.82%
85+	18 500	26 359	44 859	0.78%
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	991 945	955 022	1 946 967	33.89%
15–64	1 555 637	1 851 182	3 406 819	59.31%
65+	171 789	218 538	390 327	6.80%

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 925 284	3 290 858	6 216 143	100%
0–4	309 786	296 430	606 216	9.75%
5–9	308 052	294 483	602 535	9.69%
10–14	362 232	348 111	710 343	11.43%
15–19	352 598	350 791	703 389	11.32%
20–24	276 109	305 559	581 668	9.36%
25–29	209 615	261 340	470 955	7.58%
30–34	180 198	235 412	415 609	6.69%
35–39	168 638	219 197	387 835	6.24%
40–44	149 955	194 952	344 907	5.55%
45–49	127 846	167 719	295 565	4.75%
50–54	108 714	140 978	249 692	4.02%
55–59	93 682	119 911	213 593	3.44%
60–64	78 899	100 625	179 525	2.89%
65–69	65 846	82 450	148 295	2.39%
70–74	52 993	66 934	119 928	1.93%
75–79	38 678	49 603	88 281	1.42%
80+	41 443	56 363	97 806	1.57%

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	980 070	939 024	1 919 094	30.87%
15–64	1 746 254	2 096 484	3 842 738	61.82%
65+	198 960	255 350	454 310	7.31%

Age group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	2 951 282	3 354 214	6 305 496	100%
0–4	264 147	252 388	516 535	8.19%
5–9	278 047	264 945	542 992	8.61%
10–14	280 173	266 743	546 916	8.67%
15–19	295 355	286 072	581 427	9.22%
20–24	308 532	314 355	622 887	9.88%
25–29	288 053	314 743	602 796	9.56%
30–34	219 270	269 966	489 236	7.76%
35–39	167 017	229 420	396 437	6.29%
40–44	146 976	207 506	354 482	5.62%
45–49	140 159	193 625	333 784	5.29%
50–54	127 022	173 103	300 125	4.76%
55–59	107 872	147 674	255 546	4.05%
60–64	89 592	122 042	211 634	3.36%
65–69	74 736	100 814	175 550	2.78%
70–74	60 083	80 828	140 911	2.23%
75–79	45 838	61 898	107 736	1.71%
80–84	31 845	43 639	75 484	1.20%
85+	31 030	40 319	71 349	1.13%
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	822 367	784 076	1 606 443	25.48%
15–64	1 885 383	2 242 640	4 128 023	65.47%
65+	243 532	327 498	571 030	9.06%

Vital statistics

UN estimates

The United Nations Population Department created some important guesses about the population.

Registered data

More details about the population come from official records.

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*	Life expectancy
Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*	total	males	females
1950-1955	108 000	48 000	61 000	46.7	20.6	26.1	6.30	147	45.1	43.4	46.8
1955-1960	125 000	46 000	78 000	47.8	17.8	30.0	6.60	132	49.3	47.2	51.5
1960-1965	144 000	47 000	97 000	47.7	15.5	32.3	6.76	119	53.0	50.5	55.7
1965-1970	156 000	47 000	109 000	44.8	13.5	31.3	6.43	109	55.6	52.6	58.9
1970-1975	168 000	49 000	119 000	42.1	12.3	29.8	5.95	100	57.0	53.2	61.2
1975-1980	177 000	52 000	124 000	39.7	11.8	27.9	5.46	91	57.0	51.9	62.7
1980-1985	174 000	55 000	119 000	36.1	11.4	24.7	4.80	77	56.9	50.6	64.2
1985-1990	171 000	44 000	126 000	33.0	8.6	24.4	4.20	56	63.1	57.4	69.1
1990-1995	169 000	37 000	132 000	30.5	6.8	23.8	3.73	38	68.0	63.3	72.9
1995-2000	161 000	38 000	123 000	27.5	6.6	20.9	3.30	27	69.2	64.4	73.9
2000-2005	133 000	75 000	94 000	22.7	6.7	16.0	2.72	23	70.2	65.4	74.9
2005-2010	127 000	90 000	87 000	20.4	6.8	13.6	2.40	21	71.3	66.5	75.9
2010-2015				19.1	6.9	12.2	2.17
2015-2020				18.4	7.0	11.4	2.05
2020-2025				17.2	7.2	10.0	1.96
2025-2030				15.6	7.4	8.2	1.87
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Ethnic groups

Out of the 6,408,111 people in El Salvador, 86.3% are Mestizo, 15% are European, 1% Indigenous, 0.8% Afro-Salvadorans, and 0.64% other.

Indigenous Salvadorans

About 1% of the population are of full or partial indigenous origin, mainly Pipil, located in the west and central part of the country, and Lenca, found east of the Lempa River. There are also small populations of Cacaopera people in the Morazán Department. In the past, the largest Native Salvadoran groups were the Lenca people and Pipil people, followed by small groups of Maya peoples.

Mestizo Salvadorans

An estimated 86.3% of the population are Mestizo, having mixed indigenous and European ancestry. This mix resulted from historical interactions between European settlers and the local indigenous population. Most Salvadorans today are of Mestizo background.

European Salvadorans

Spanish Salvadorans

Spaniards began to settle in El Salvador in the mid-1520s. Some 12.7% of Salvadorans are of white European origin, including those of Spanish, French, German, Swiss, English, Irish, and Italian descent. Many Central European settlers arrived during World War II as refugees.

French Salvadorans

French immigration to El Salvador was significant between the 19th and mid-20th century. Between 1850 and 1950, more than 7,000 French emigrated to El Salvador, influencing the economy and education.

German Salvadorans

German immigration to El Salvador began between 1880 and 1940. Germans settled in areas like coffee-growing regions and cities such as Santa Tecla and San Salvador. They contributed to the country's development in industry, commerce, and farming.

Italian Salvadorans

Italian immigration to El Salvador was one of the most important movements in the country's history. From the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century, waves of Italian immigrants arrived, mainly from northern and southern Italy. They settled in cities like San Salvador, Santa Ana, and San Miguel, contributing to various sectors including education, music, agriculture, industry, commerce, and infrastructure.

Afro-Salvadorans

Afro-Salvadorans, also called Pardo and sometimes Afro-Mestizos in the colonial period, are the descendants of the African population enslaved and brought to El Salvador to work in mines. They have mixed into the general Mestizo population. El Salvador is unique in Central America for not having English Antillean or Garifuna populations, but instead had older colonial African slaves from Africa itself.

Jewish Salvadorans

There is a small community of Jews who came to El Salvador from France, Germany, Morocco, Tunisia, and Turkey. Some Jews arrived as World War II refugees. The Jewish community in El Salvador is small but has notable descendants who have contributed to society in various fields.

Gypsies in El Salvador

Gypsy caravans in El Salvador were present in the 20th century. The city of Santa Tecla was one of the places where Gypsy camps were located. During the dictatorial government of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, laws were passed prohibiting the entry of certain groups, including Gypsies, leading them to hide their identity. Some Gypsies were able to escape persecution thanks to Salvadoran nationality certificates issued by Salvadoran consuls.

Arab Salvadorans

There is a significant Arab Christian population in El Salvador, mostly from Palestine, but also from Lebanon. Salvadorans of Palestinian descent number around 70,000 individuals, while those of Lebanese descent number around 25,000. Arab immigration to El Salvador began at the end of the 19th century due to religious clashes and economic factors. They settled in cities like San Salvador, San Miguel, Santa Ana, and Usulután, contributing to the country's economic and political life.

Emigration

During the years 1979 to 1981, unrest and political problems caused many Salvadorans to leave their country. Over a million people moved to the United States, with smaller groups going to Guatemala, Canada, Australia, Belize, Panama, Costa Rica, Italy, Taiwan, and Sweden. By 2010, more than one million Salvadorans lived in the United States, a big increase from the year 2000.