El Salvador vs Nicaragua

Nicaragua scores 42.8 in the NationsTree Index (117th in the world) and El Salvador scores 41.1 (127th), a gap of 1.7 points. Their trees are 5.4 m and 4.6 m tall; tree height grows with real GDP and is adjusted by the index.

Nicaragua has 10% more people than El Salvador. Nicaragua is 6.2 times larger than El Salvador by land area. The economy of El Salvador is 38% larger than that of Nicaragua (GDP at purchasing power parity). Population: El Salvador 6.4 million and Nicaragua 7.0 million (2025).

GDP per person at purchasing power parity is $14,101 in El Salvador and $9,284 in Nicaragua (2025, international dollars). People in Nicaragua live on average 2.8 years longer (75.1 vs 72.3 years).

Of 31 indicators reported by both countries, El Salvador ranks higher in the world on 21 and Nicaragua on 10. El Salvador is clearly stronger in military, tourism and institutions & safety. Nicaragua is clearly stronger in natural resources and environment & energy.

As a nation, Nicaragua is the older of the two (statehood since 1821, 205 years), compared with El Salvador (since 1841). Over the last five years Nicaragua improved faster (direction score 93 vs 55 out of 100).