List of Salvadoran departments by Human Development Index

El Salvador has a HDI of 0.674 as of 2017, which is considered 'medium human development'. It is the second highest in Central America (Costa Rica being the first at 0.740). It is the smallest country in Central America, with over 6.6 million people living in its area of 21,041 km² (8,124 sq mi) as of 2018. This document lists the fourteen departments of El Salvador in order of highest to lowest human development.

World Trade Center in (1st) San Salvador

Santa Tecla Cathedral in (2nd) La Libertad

Acajutla port in (4th) Sonsonate

View of the capital city of (6th) San Miguel

Ataco Village in (9th) Ahuachapán

Construction of La Union Port, built to develop the department of (12th) La Union

Departments

Rank	Department	Capital	HDI	Estimated population 2010
Very high human development
1	San Salvador Department	San Salvador	0.795	2,995,787
High human development
2	La Libertad Department	Santa Tecla, El Salvador	0.768	842,624
3	Santa Ana Department	Santa Ana, El Salvador	0.740	630,903
4	Sonsonate Department	Sonsonate	0.731	518,522
5	Cuscatlán	Cojutepeque	0.727	231,480
6	San Miguel Department	San Miguel, El Salvador	0.713	454,003
7	La Paz Department	Zacatecoluca	0.707	318,107
8	Usulután Department	Usulután	0.698	464,883
9	Ahuachapán Department	Ahuachapán	0.694	377,141
10	San Vicente Department	San Vicente, El Salvador	0.688	230,205
Medium human development
11	Chalatenango Department	Chalatenango	0.682	274,878
12	La Unión Department	La Unión, El Salvador	0.675	372,271
13	Cabañas	Sensuntepeque	0.662	214,150
14	Morazán	San Francisco Gotera	0.642	251,447