Democracy in El Salvador

El Salvador: Democracy was 3 in 2025. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2025)
3
Change on year
unchanged
World rank
116th
of 197 countries
All-time high
7
in 2010
All-time low
0
in 1838
Years of data
188
1838–2025

Democracy in El Salvador, 1838–2025

02468183819312025

Source: Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.

Analysis

In 2025, democracy in El Salvador stood at 3.

That represents a change of down 50.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, democracy in El Salvador peaked at 7 in 2010 and was at its lowest, 0, in 1838.

That places El Salvador 116th out of 197 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1830s 0 0 0 2
1840s 2.4 0 3 10
1850s 2.8 1 3 10
1860s 2.6 1 3 10
1870s 2.8 1 3 10
1880s 2.6 1 3 10
1890s 2.6 1 3 10
1900s 3 3 3 10
1910s 3 3 3 10
1920s 3 3 3 10
1930s 1.2 1 3 10
1940s 0.8 0 1 10
1950s 3 3 3 10
1960s 1.5 0 3 10
1970s 2.7 0 3 10
1980s 4.2 0 6 10
1990s 6 6 6 10
2000s 6 6 6 10
2010s 6.5 6 7 10
2020s 5 3 6 6

Countries ranked near El Salvador

  1. 116 Algeria 3 compare
  2. 116 Angola 3 compare
  3. 116 Azerbaijan 3 compare
  4. 116 Benin 3 compare
  5. 116 Burundi 3 compare
  6. 116 Cameroon 3 compare
  7. 116 Central African Republic 3 compare
  8. 116 Chad 3 compare
  9. 116 Comoros 3 compare
  10. 116 Congo 3 compare
  11. 116 Cote d'Ivoire 3 compare
  12. 116 Democratic Republic of Congo 3 compare
  13. 116 Egypt 3 compare
  14. 116 Equatorial Guinea 3 compare
  15. 116 Ethiopia 3 compare
  16. 116 Gabon 3 compare
  17. 116 Georgia 3 compare
  18. 116 Kazakhstan 3 compare
  19. 116 Kyrgyzstan 3 compare
  20. 116 Mauritania 3 compare
  21. 116 Mozambique 3 compare
  22. 116 Nigeria 3 compare
  23. 116 Pakistan 3 compare
  24. 116 Rwanda 3 compare
  25. 116 Serbia 3 compare
  26. 116 Sierra Leone 3 compare
  27. 116 Tajikistan 3 compare
  28. 116 Tanzania 3 compare
  29. 116 Thailand 3 compare
  30. 116 Togo 3 compare
  31. 116 Turkey 3 compare
  32. 116 Uganda 3 compare
  33. 116 Uzbekistan 3 compare
  34. 116 Zimbabwe 3 compare

See the full ranking of 198 places →

More reference data data for El Salvador

All data for El Salvador →

Frequently asked questions

What is democracy in El Salvador?
Democracy in El Salvador was 3 in 2025, according to Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest democracy recorded in El Salvador?
The highest recorded value was 7 in 2010.
What is the lowest democracy recorded in El Salvador?
The lowest recorded value was 0 in 1838.
How does El Salvador rank for democracy?
El Salvador ranks 116th out of 197 countries with data for 2025.
Is democracy rising or falling in El Salvador?
Over the last ten years it is down 50.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this El Salvador data come from?
The figures come from Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 188 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Democracy
Source
Lexical Index (2026) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
198 places, 32,485 data points, 1789–2025
Last refreshed

Identifies the political regime of a country. It distinguishes between non-electoral autocracies (score 0), one-party autocracies (score 1), multi-party autocracies without elected executive (score 2), multi-party autocracies (score 3), exclusive democracies (score 4), male democracies (score 5), electoral democracies (score 6), and full democracies (score 7).