Government of Canada
Level 2Exercise a high degree of caution
Updated: Sep 24, 2026 Source
Last successfully checked: Oct 1, 2026
Last update: October 11, 2026
Updated dailyIs It Safe to Travel to El Salvador Right Now?
Exercise caution
7 6.8 out of 10
Safety Score
Last updated: October 11, 2026 92% data coverage
El Salvador has a safety score of 6.8/10 as of October 11, 2026, rated as Moderate risk and ranking 125th out of 248 countries worldwide. The biggest concern is governance (3.6/10), while the strongest area is conflict (7.5/10). It combines 20 government travel advisories and 5 other public datasets and is recalculated daily.
What are the safety risk areas?
Governance 3.6/10
Environment 5.9/10
Crime 6.6/10
Health 7.2/10
Conflict 7.5/10
Indicator-level detail
Governance 3.6/10 · High · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| V-Dem Rule of Law Index | 0.8/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| V-Dem Public Administration Quality | 3.1/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| V-Dem Political Corruption (inverted) | 3.2/10 | vdem | 2025 |
| INFORM Governance Index | 5.5/10 | inform | 2026 |
Environment 5.9/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 60%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank Air Pollution (PM2.5) | 7.0/10 | worldbank | 2023 |
| INFORM Natural Hazard Risk | 4.4/10 | inform | 2026 |
| INFORM Climate Risk | 6.5/10 | inform | 2026 |
Crime 6.6/10 · Moderate · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPI Safety & Security Score | 6.0/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| World Bank Intentional-Homicide Rate (population-reliability scaled) | 8.7/10 | worldbank | 2022 |
Health 7.2/10 · Low · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank Child Mortality Rate | 9.5/10 | worldbank | 2024 |
| INFORM Health Risk Index | 9.0/10 | inform | 2026 |
| INFORM Epidemic Risk Index | 4.8/10 | inform | 2026 |
Conflict 7.5/10 · Low · Coverage: 100%
| Indicators | Value | Source | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global Peace Index - Overall Score | 5.8/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| GPI Militarisation Score | 7.1/10 | gpi | 2026 |
| UCDP Conflict-Death Count (log-normalized) | 10.0/10 | ucdp | 2025 |
See how these scores are calculated on the Methodology page.
Community Sentiment
Community Community Sentiment 7.4/10
+0.6 vs official score Based on 8 votes
Community estimate — does not affect the safety score.
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What do governments say?
Sources (20)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to travel to El Salvador in 2026?
Yes, with some caution — El Salvador is reasonably safe for most travelers: as of October 2026 it scores 6.8/10 on our daily safety index, classified as Moderate risk. Stay alert to the specific risks below.
The score is an uncertainty-weighted (Bayesian shrinkage) geometric mean of five pillars: conflict (30%), crime (25%), health (20%), governance (15%) and environment (10%). A weak pillar drags the overall score down more than a strong one lifts it, and the mix also folds in a calibrated consensus of government travel advisories.
Thin or stale data pulls a country's score toward a cautious regional baseline instead of guessing — see our methodology page for the full statistical detail. conflict (7.5/10) is El Salvador's strongest pillar, while the score is pulled down by environment (5.9/10) and above all by governance (3.6/10).
This pillar gauges the rule of law and the reliability of institutions — a low score means police and courts may offer limited help if something goes wrong. It combines 20 government travel advisories and 5 other public datasets and is recalculated daily.
What is the biggest risk when traveling to El Salvador?
The main concern for El Salvador is governance, its weakest pillar at 3.6/10. This pillar gauges the rule of law and the reliability of institutions — a low score means police and courts may offer limited help if something goes wrong.
The lowest-scoring signals here are rule of law (V-Dem) and government effectiveness (V-Dem). The second-lowest area is environment at 5.9/10, so it deserves attention too.
By contrast, conflict scores 7.5/10 and is El Salvador's strongest area.
What do government travel advisories say about El Salvador?
As of October 2026, El Salvador has 20 government travel advisories on record. The prevailing guidance is to exercise increased caution when visiting El Salvador; the strongest current warning — reconsider travel — comes from Spain.
How does El Salvador compare to nearby countries?
| Country | Score | Conflict | Crime | Health | Governance | Environment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8.3 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 6.3 |
| Barbados | 8.0 | 8.8 | 7.0 | 7.2 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Uruguay | 7.8 | 8.3 | 6.7 | 7.3 | 7.4 | 7.1 |
| Chile | 7.7 | 7.8 | 7.1 | 7.7 | 7.5 | 5.7 |
| El Salvador | 6.8 | 7.5 | 6.6 | 7.2 | 3.6 | 5.9 |
El Salvador and its neighbouring countries
Related Countries
Similar safety scores
How has the safety score changed over time?
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Where does the data come from?
- advisoriesFresh
Travel advisories from 20 governments: US State Department, UK FCDO, Government of Canada, Australian Government, German Federal Foreign Office, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Zealand SafeTravel, Ireland Department of Foreign Affairs, Austrian Federal Ministry (BMEIA), Serbia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Italy Viaggiare Sicuri, Spain Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan Bureau of Consular Affairs, Switzerland Federal Department (EDA), Poland Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Czech Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Hungary Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Checked: Oct 11, 2026
- gpiFresh
Global Peace Index -- annual peacefulness ranking by IEP
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 11, 2026
- informFresh
INFORM Risk Index -- hazard, exposure, vulnerability, and coping capacity
Data vintage: 2026Checked: Oct 11, 2026
- ucdpFresh
UCDP Georeferenced Event Dataset (Uppsala Conflict Data Program) -- state-based and one-sided conflict deaths, via the Our World in Data mirror (CC-BY)
Data vintage: 2025Checked: Oct 11, 2026
- vdemFresh
V-Dem Institute Country-Year Dataset v16 (CC-BY-SA 4.0) -- Rule of Law, Political Corruption, and Public Administration indices (Coppedge et al., DOI 10.23696/vdemds26)
Data vintage: 2025Checked: Oct 11, 2026
- worldbankRecent
World Bank Development Indicators -- child mortality and PM2.5 air pollution
Data vintage: 2022–2024Checked: Oct 11, 2026