El Salvador vs Panama: Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas
El Salvador
1.49 million people
in 2020
Panama
1.36 million people
in 2020
El Salvador rank
117th
Panama rank
120th
Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas over time
- El Salvador
- Panama
How they compare
El Salvador currently reports 1.49 million people against 1.36 million people in Panama, a difference of 131,480 people.
That makes El Salvador's figure about 1.1 times Panama's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, El Salvador has been ahead every year.
El Salvador ranks 117th and Panama ranks 120th of 236 countries.
El Salvador has averaged higher in every one of the 8 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | El Salvador | Panama | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 1.06 million people | 553,575 people | 506,670 people | El Salvador |
| 1960s | 1.18 million people | 676,038 people | 507,722 people | El Salvador |
| 1970s | 1.30 million people | 814,336 people | 483,378 people | El Salvador |
| 1980s | 1.37 million people | 964,478 people | 407,886 people | El Salvador |
| 1990s | 1.32 million people | 1.06 million people | 263,005 people | El Salvador |
| 2000s | 1.38 million people | 1.13 million people | 248,530 people | El Salvador |
| 2010s | 1.43 million people | 1.27 million people | 162,060 people | El Salvador |
| 2020s | 1.49 million people | 1.36 million people | 131,480 people | El Salvador |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas, El Salvador or Panama?
- El Salvador, at 1.49 million people against 1.36 million people in Panama as of 2020.
- What is the difference in number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas between El Salvador and Panama?
- 131,480 people, with El Salvador ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for El Salvador and Panama?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2020.
- How do El Salvador and Panama rank globally for number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas?
- El Salvador ranks 117th and Panama ranks 120th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Number of people living in cities, towns and rural areas. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Estimated number of people living in rural areas. Rural areas are identified using satellite imagery and population data, applying the same definitions across countries.