Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Samoa instead of El Salvador, you would:
Health
be 99.9% more likely to be obese
In El Salvador, 32.2% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Samoa, that number is 64.3% of people as of 2024.
see 59.6% less spent on your healthcare
El Salvador spends $1,176 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Samoa spends $475 as of 2023.
have 65.3% fewer doctors per person
El Salvador has 16.2 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Samoa has 5.6 as of 2021.
have 29.5% less access to essential health services
El Salvador scores 78 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Samoa scores 55 as of 2021.
be 57.3% more likely to die by suicide
El Salvador has a suicide rate of 7.6 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Samoa, it is 12.0 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Economy
be 51.5% more likely to be unemployed
In El Salvador, 3.3% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Samoa, that number is 5.0% as of 2025.
Life
be 10.4% more likely to be literate
In El Salvador, the literacy rate is 89.8% as of 2024. In Samoa, it is 99.1% as of 2021.
have 60.1% more children
In El Salvador, there are approximately 15.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Samoa, there are 25.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 2.6 times more likely to die during childbirth
In El Salvador, approximately 39.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Samoa, 101.0 women do as of 2023.
be 39.8% more likely to die during infancy
In El Salvador, approximately 8.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Samoa, on the other hand, 12.3 children do as of 2024.
Basic Needs
be 13.3% more likely to have internet access
In El Salvador, approximately 66.5% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Samoa, about 75.3% do as of 2022.
Expenditures
spend 27.0% less on healthcare
El Salvador spends 9.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Samoa, that number is 6.8% of GDP as of 2023.
spend 64.5% more on education
El Salvador spends 3.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2024. Samoa spends 5.5% of total GDP on education as of 2024.
Geography
see 31.3% more coastline
El Salvador has a total of 307 km of coastline. In Samoa, that number is 403 km.
Safety
be 55.3% less likely to die in a road accident
In El Salvador, road accidents kill 21.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Samoa, they kill 9.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 92.9% less home broadband
El Salvador has 12.5 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Samoa has 0.9 as of 2022.
Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021–2022), The World Factbook (2021), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this
Compare further: El Salvador vs. Samoa
Samoa: At a glance
How big is Samoa compared to El Salvador? See an in-depth size comparison.