Compare
El Salvador vs Guatemala
How El Salvador and Guatemala compare on 37 measures, from 1789 to 2025. The main differences:
- Life expectancy · In 2023, Guatemala was higher: 72.6 years against 72.1 years
- GDP per person · In 2025, El Salvador was higher: $4,735 against $4,688
- Population · In 2023, Guatemala was higher: 18.1 million people against 6.31 million people
- Military spending · In 2025, El Salvador was higher: 1.34% of GDP against 0.52% of GDP
- CO₂ per person · In 2024, El Salvador was higher: 1.51 tonnes against 1.11 tonnes
Life expectancy →El SalvadorGuatemalaUN projection (medium variant)95% prediction intervalWorld
Change since 1990, years · UN
Every measure
El SalvadorGuatemala
| Measure | El Salvador | Guatemala | Over the years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | |||
| Life expectancyyears · 2023 | 72.1 | 72.6 | |
| Child mortalitydeaths before age 5 per 100 live births · 2024 | 1 | 2.1 | |
| Infant mortalitydeaths per 1,000 live births · 2023 | 9.5 | 17.6 | |
| Depression% of people · 2017 | 3.03 | 3.22 | |
| Suicide ratedeaths per 100,000 people · 2017 | 9.8 | 5.9 | |
| People | |||
| Populationpeople · 2023 | 6.31 million | 18.1 million | |
| Population growth% a year · 2023 | 0.46 | 1.55 | |
| Fertility ratebirths per woman · 2023 | 1.78 | 2.31 | |
| Urban population% of people · 2025 | 75.5 | 56.3 | |
| Median ageyears · 2023 | 27 | 22.6 | |
| People aged 65 and over% of people · 2023 | 8 | 4.7 | |
| Net migration rateper 1,000 people · 2023 | -3.7 | -0.5 | |
| Economy | |||
| GDP per personUS dollars at 2015 prices · 2025 | $4,735 | $4,688 | |
| GDP growth% a year · 2025 | 3.9 | 4.3 | |
| Inflation% a year · 2025 | 0.3 | 1.6 | |
| Government debt% of GDP · 2025 | 87.6 | 26.7 | |
| Education | |||
| Learning-adjusted schoolingyears · 2020 | 7.6 | 6.3 | |
| Adult literacy% of adults · 2024 | 89.8 | 82.1 | |
| Girls in primary school% of girls of primary-school age · 2018 | 81.4 | 87 | |
| Politics | |||
| Electoral democracyindex, 0 to 1 · 2025 | 0.32 | 0.64 | |
| Human rightsindex, 0 to 1 · 2025 | 0.51 | 0.77 | |
| Conflict | |||
| Deaths in conflictsdeaths a year · 2022 | 88 | 0 | |
| Military | |||
| Military spending% of GDP · 2025 | 1.34 | 0.52 | |
| Military spending in US dollarsUS dollars at 2024 prices · 2025 | $489M | $617M | |
| Military spending per personUS dollars per person · 2025 | $77 | $34 | |
| Military share of state spending% of government spending · 2025 | 4.4 | 3.5 | |
| Armed forces personnelpeople · 2020 | 42,000 | 43,000 | |
| National power% of world capability · 2022 | 0.05 | 0.09 | |
| Armed forces, share of workers% of the labour force · 2020 | 1.62 | 0.64 | |
| Arms importsSIPRI trend-indicator values · 2025 | 3 million | 6 million2023 | |
| Climate | |||
| Temperature°C · 2025 | 26.9 | 23.7 | |
| Days above 35 °Cdays a year · 2014 | 17 | 16.9 | |
| Tropical nightsnights a year · 2014 | 301.6 | 171.5 | |
| Technology and environment | |||
| CO₂ per persontonnes per person · 2024 | 1.51 | 1.11 | |
| Internet users% of people · 2024 | 66.5 | 60.2 | |
| Access to electricity% of people · 2024 | 98.7 | 90.9 | |
| Forest area% of land · 2024 | 33 | 33.1 | |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- Sources: UN, Gapminder and UN IGME, IHME, World Bank, IMF, UNESCO, Our World in Data, V-Dem, UCDP, SIPRI, IISS, Correlates of War, ERA5, CMIP6, EDGAR, ITU and FAO. Each measure’s page names its own and what it counts.
- Values are drawn on today’s borders. Years without a published value are left empty, never filled in.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time