El Salvador's labor force, female (% of total labor force) was 42.43% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 1 percentage points from 41.43% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 42.43% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 41.2% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 41.43% | 2015 |
| Highest | 42.51% | 2024 |
| Lowest | 34.72% | 1990 |
| Average since 2016 | 41.66% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 34.72% | 1990 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, El Salvador's labor force, female (% of total labor force) fell 0.08 percentage points on 2024 (from 42.51% to 42.43%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.18 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.52 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.99 percentage points in 1998 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.81 percentage points in 1995. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.13 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 46% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, El Salvador had the 120th highest value of the 182 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| El Salvador | 42.43% | 2025 |
| World | 40.18% | 2025 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 42.03% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 42.75% | 2025 |
Closest to El Salvador in the 2025 ranking
- North Macedonia — 117th of 182: 42.68%
- Italy — 118th of 182: 42.56%
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — 119th of 182: 42.44%
- Romania — 121st of 182: 42.41%
- Paraguay — 122nd of 182: 42.23%
- Trinidad and Tobago — 123rd of 182: 42.12%
What this measures
Female labor force as a percentage of the total show the extent to which women are active in the labor force. Labor force comprises people ages 15 and older who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 36 values
| Year | Labor force, female (% of total labor force) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 42.43 |
| 2024 | 42.51 |
| 2023 | 42.41 |
| 2022 | 41.25 |
| 2021 | 41.17 |
| 2020 | 41.2 |
| 2019 | 41.39 |
| 2018 | 41.24 |
| 2017 | 41.25 |
| 2016 | 41.68 |
| 2015 |
Labor force, female (% of total labor force) in nearby economies
- Argentina — 43.05% (2025)
- Bahamas, The — 50.72% (2025)
- Barbados — 49.67% (2025)
- Belize — 39.18% (2025)
- Bolivia — 46.55% (2025)
- Brazil — 43.37% (2025)
- Chile — 42.9% (2025)
- Colombia — 41.6% (2025)
- Costa Rica — 40.68% (2025)
- Cuba — 39.1% (2025)
More social protection & labor data for El Salvador
- Net migration — -23,934 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin — 68,182 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 182 (2025)
- Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate) — 2.93% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 48.63% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate) — 63.26% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 76.87% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is El Salvador's labor force, female (% of total labor force)?
- 42.43% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1990?
- It is up 7.71 percentage points from 34.72% in 1990. The highest value was 42.51% in 2024 and the lowest 34.72% in 1990.
- How does El Salvador rank?
- 120th highest of 182 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in labor force, female (% of total labor force) unusual for El Salvador?
- In 2025, El Salvador's labor force, female (% of total labor force) fell 0.08 percentage points on 2024 (from 42.51% to 42.43%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was +0.18 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.52 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.TLF.TOTL.FE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Labour Organization (ILO), type: estimates based on external database; United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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