Nicaragua Economy - 2024

Economic overview

low-income Central American economy; until 2018, nearly 20 years of sustained GDP growth; recent struggles due to COVID-19, political instability, and hurricanes; significant remittances; increasing poverty and food scarcity since 2005; sanctions limit investment

Real GDP (purchasing power parity)

$38.628 billion (2021 est.)
$35.007 billion (2020 est.)
$35.645 billion (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

Real GDP growth rate

10.34% (2021 est.)
-1.79% (2020 est.)
-3.78% (2019 est.)

Real GDP per capita

$5,600 (2021 est.)
$5,200 (2020 est.)
$5,300 (2019 est.)

note: data are in 2017 dollars

GDP (official exchange rate)

$12.57 billion (2019 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices)

4.93% (2021 est.)
3.68% (2020 est.)
5.38% (2019 est.)

Credit ratings

Fitch rating: B- (2018)

Moody's rating: B3 (2020)

Standard & Poors rating: B- (2018)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

GDP - composition, by sector of origin

agriculture: 15.5% (2017 est.)

industry: 24.4% (2017 est.)

services: 60% (2017 est.)

GDP - composition, by end use

household consumption: 69.9% (2017 est.)

government consumption: 15.3% (2017 est.)

investment in fixed capital: 28.1% (2017 est.)

investment in inventories: 1.7% (2017 est.)

exports of goods and services: 41.2% (2017 est.)

imports of goods and services: -55.4% (2017 est.)

Agricultural products

sugar cane, milk, rice, maize, plantains, groundnuts, cassava, beans, coffee, poultry

Industries

food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, knit and woven apparel, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood, electric wire harness manufacturing, mining

Industrial production growth rate

21.28% (2021 est.)

Labor force

3.042 million (2021 est.)

Unemployment rate

5.96% (2021 est.)
6.08% (2020 est.)
5.21% (2019 est.)

note: underemployment was 46.5% in 2008

Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)

total: 11.6% (2021 est.)

male: 10.2%

female: 15.5%

Population below poverty line

24.9% (2016 est.)

Gini Index coefficient - distribution of family income

46.2 (2014 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share

lowest 10%: 1.8%

highest 10%: 47.1% (2014)

Remittances

15.35% of GDP (2021 est.)
14.74% of GDP (2020 est.)
13.39% of GDP (2019 est.)

Budget

revenues: $3.452 billion (2019 est.)

expenditures: $3.511 billion (2019 est.)

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-)

-2% (of GDP) (2017 est.)

Public debt

33.3% of GDP (2017 est.)
31.2% of GDP (2016 est.)

note: official data; data cover general government debt and include debt instruments issued (or owned) by Government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities, as well as intragovernmental debt; intragovernmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as retirement, medical care, and unemployment, debt instruments for the social funds are not sold at public auctions; Nicaragua rebased its GDP figures in 2012, which reduced the figures for debt as a percentage of GDP

Taxes and other revenues

17.2% (of GDP) (2020 est.)

Fiscal year

calendar year

Current account balance

-$316.6 million (2021 est.)
$496.7 million (2020 est.)
$754.1 million (2019 est.)

Exports

$6.617 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$5.342 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$5.714 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Exports - partners

United States 60%, El Salvador 5%, Mexico 5% (2019)

Exports - commodities

clothing and apparel, gold, insulated wiring, coffee, beef, cigars (2021)

Imports

$8.306 billion (2021 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$5.939 billion (2020 est.) note: data are in current year dollars
$6.252 billion (2019 est.) note: data are in current year dollars

Imports - partners

United States 27%, Mexico 12%, China 11%, Guatemala 9%, Costa Rica 7%, El Salvador 6%, Honduras 6% (2019)

Imports - commodities

refined petroleum, clothing and apparel, crude petroleum, packaged medicines, insulated wiring (2019)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold

$4.047 billion (31 December 2021 est.)
$3.212 billion (31 December 2020 est.)
$2.397 billion (31 December 2019 est.)

Debt - external

$11.674 billion (2019 est.)
$11.771 billion (2018 est.)

Exchange rates

cordobas (NIO) per US dollar -

Exchange rates:
35.171 (2021 est.)
34.342 (2020 est.)
33.122 (2019 est.)
31.553 (2018 est.)
30.051 (2017 est.)