Gross domestic product (GDP)

In 2010, GDP at constant prices (1994=100) was NIO 35.430 billion, an increase of 3.05% over 2009.

Nicaragua's economy declined in 2009, with GDP growth in 2008 to 2009 dipping sharply to -1.45%.

(Source: IMF)

GDP at current prices

In 2010, GDP at current prices was USD 6.375 billion, an increase of 3.7% over 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua, IMF)

Gross national income (GNI)

GNI per capita at PPP in Nicaragua was USD 2,540 in2009, a decrease of 6.95% from 2008.

(Source: World Bank)

Income tax

Income tax on individual incomes in Nicaragua is taxed progressively up to 30% for residents and 20% for non-residents.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax

The corporate tax rate in Nicaragua is 30% and VAT levied at 15%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Inflation rate

the inflation rate in Nicaragua in 2009 was 0.9%. The inflation, in terms of consumer price change (annual %), in 2010 was 9.23%.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua – excel sheet, pdf)

Foreign direct investment (FDI)

In 2009, FDI inflows to Nicaragua amounted to USD 434.2 million, a decrease of 30.65% over 2008.

In  2009, the maximum share of foreign investment was received by the energy sector amounting to USD 222.4 million.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Banking sector assets

The total banking sector assets of Nicaragua amounted to NIO 93.048 billion by the end of December 2010.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Consumer price index

The average CPI in Nicaragua was 234.79 points, an increase of 5.7% over 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Interest rates

Interest rate on savings deposits

In January 2011, the interest rate on household saving deposits was 1.1%.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Average interest rate for active short-term

In January 2010, the interest rate on household saving deposits was 11.2%.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Average interest rate for Long-term assets

In January 2010, the interest rate on household saving deposits was 19.3%.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Money supply (currency in circulation)

The three measures of monetary aggregates are- M1, M2 and M3.

M1 is the currency outside banks plus demand deposits.

M2 refers to time deposits, exchange bills, mortgage bonds and real estate bonds.

M3 refers to M1 plus M2 plus foreign currency time deposits, commercial paper, and shares of mutual funds or market funds held by residents.

 

Monetary aggregates, 2010 (NIO millions)
End of period	M1	M2	M3
Jan	9,993.4	14,914.5	53,001.5
Feb	10,151.6	15,595.5	54,269.6
Mar	10,615.7	15,767.0	55,569.6
Apr	10,386.9	15,398.3	56,909.5
May	10,674.4	15,946.1	58,815.0
Jun	10,393.5	15,842.9	61,793.7
Jul	11,057.3	16,499.5	62,881.1
Aug	10,775.7	16,571.8	62,178.2
Sep	10,915.7	16,735.8	62,922.0
Oct	10,687.1	16,532.4	62,885.6
Nov	12,569.1	18,918.0	65,408.0
Dec	14,522.9	20,864.2	69,339.7

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua- excel sheet 1, excel sheet 2, excel sheet 3)

Expenditure

In 2010, the total government expenditure in Nicaragua was NIO 42.312 million accounting tfor 31.08% of total GDP.

(Source: IMF)

Exchange rates

NIO/USD exchange rate in 2010 was 21.3564.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Government financial well-being

Total revenue

In 2010, central government revenue amounted to NIO 27,736.2 million, an increase of 16.25% from NIO 23,859.3 million in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Tax revenue

In 2010, tax revenue amounted to NIO 25,585.7 million. There was an increase of 15.38% in tax revenue over 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Current surplus/deficit

In 2010, the government deficit before grants amounted to NIO 4,103.9 million and the deficit after grants amounted to NIO 1,423.9 million.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua- page: 1, page: 2)

Balance of payments

 

Balance of Payments (USD million)
Year	2010			2009	2008
	Q3	Q2	Q1
Current account	-325.9	-241.2	-184.3	-796.2	-1,512.9
Capital account	56.2	43.1	31.4	470.8	523.9
Financial account	270.8	264.6	67.8	571.2	1,003.6

The labour force in Nicaragua was 2.28 million people in 2009. This was a decrease of approximately 1.1% from the previous year’s 2.30 million labour population.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

The total labour force participation rate in Nicaragua was 51.8% in 2009. In 2008, the labour force participation rate was 53.3%.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Unemployment rate

In 2009, the unemployment rate in Nicaragua increased by 2.1 percentage points over 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Average monthly income

In 2009, the average monthly income earned by workers was NIO 3,662.2. In 2008, the average monthly income earned was NIO 3,497.2. 

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Employment structure by activities

The tertiary sector employs the largest proportion of the total labour force followed by the primary sector.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Nicaragua has a constitutional democracy. The four branches of government are: the legislative, the executive, the judiciary and the electoral. Legislative powers are exercised by the national assembly. Executive powers are exercised by the president and the vice-president. The judicial powers are free from legislative and executive powers and are executed by the courts of law. The electoral branch is composed of the Board Electoral and other subordinate electoral bodies.

Legislative

The national assembly forms the legislative branch of government in Nicaragua. The total number of representatives in the national assembly account for 90 or more. The number of representatives may be increased according to the general census of population in accordance with the law.

The core national assembly activities are:

•  Voting on bills and law proposals
•  Constitutional revision
•  Electing the president of the Hellenic republic
•  Voting of the standing orders
•  Voting of the state budget, the financial statement and general balance sheet of the state, along with the adoption of the budget of parliament and its financial statement
•  Approval of social and economic growth programs

Executive

Executive powers are exercised by the president. The president is the head of state, the head of government and commander in chief of the defence forces.

The vice-president represents the state in absence of the president and performs functions assigned by the president.

The president appoints ministers, deputy ministers and presidents or directors of state ministries, autonomous bodies and government.

Judiciary

The Supreme Court forms the highest entity of the judicial system in Nicaragua. It regulates and supervises the functioning of the judicial system. The Supreme Court judges are elected by the national assembly  for a five year term.

Electoral

The Supreme Electoral Council is responsible for organising and conducting elections in Nicaragua.

Some of the important activities of the Supreme Electoral Council are:

• To appoint members of other electoral bodies, with adherance to the Electoral Act
•   Prepare the electoral calendar
•   Implement the constitutional and legal provisions concerning the electoral process
•   Hear and determine ultimately the resolutions issued to subordinate electoral bodies and claims and objections to this political party

(Source: Constitution of Nicaragua)

Business and economic freedom

Greece scores 58.8 on index of economic freedom making it 98^th freest economy in 2011. Nicaragua is ranked 19th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region, and its overall score is below the world average.

(Source: Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Nicaragua ranked 127^th in the Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2010.

(Source: transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Nicaragua's press media is not free from influence from political parties and government involvement. There are more than 100 radio stations and several TV networks in Nicaragua.

La Prensa, El Nuevo Diario and Confidencial are some of the key newspapers in Nicaragua.

Nicaragua ranked 83^rd on the world press freedom index 2010 conducted by rsf.org.

(Source: BBC News, rsf.org)

The total population of Nicaragua in 2009 was 5.74 million, increasing at a rate of approximately 1.3% over the previous year.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Gender representation in Nicaragua is almost equal. The total female population in Nicaragua in 2009 was 2.89 million, while the male population was 2.84 million accounting for approximately 49.8% of the total population.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

In 2009, the population aged between 15 to 44 years accounted for the highest share of the population, followed by the age group 0-14 years and above.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

The life expectancy at birth in 2010 was 72.9 years.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Birth rate and death rate

In 2010, the birth rate (per 1,000 inhabitants) was 24.9 and death rate (per 1,000 inhabitants) was 4.8.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Migration

The net migration in Nicaragua in 2010 was:

Net Migration 2010
Estimated number of international migrants at mid-year	40,130
Estimated number of refugees at mid-year	192
International migrants as a percentage of the population	0.7
Refugees as a percentage of international migrants	0.5

 (Source: un.org)

Ethnic groups

The main ethnic groups present in Nicaragua are:

• Mestizos
• Mayangna
•  Miskito
•  Creoles
• Garifuna

 (Source: countriesquest.com)

Poverty and inequality

In 2008, 16% of the population lived below the international poverty line i.e. USD 1.25 per day.

(Source: unicef.org)

Human development index

Nicaragua ranked 115^th on the Human Development Index 2010 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and basic standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income). 

(Source: UNDP)

Education

In Nicaragua, education is compulsory for every citizen aged from 6 to 15. The education system consists of:

• Pre-primary education
• Primary education
•  Secondary education
•  Higher education

Pre-school education is provided by kindergartens and nursery schools before the age of six.

Primary school education forms the first level of compulsory education. Children aged six are enrolled for primary education in Nicaragua. The duration of primary education is from 6-12 years of age.

The second level of general education is secondary school. Students aged 12-15 years go for lower secondary education after the completion of primary education. Post compulsory secondary education includes general upper secondary education and vocational training from 15-18 years of age.

Higher education includes universities (public and private), the higher technical education (polytechnics and technical institutes) and research and training.

(Source: ibe.unesco.org)

Literacy rate

In 2008,

• Literacy rate for young females (% of females ages 15-24) was 89%
• Literacy rate for young males (% of males ages 15-24) was 85%

(Source: unicef.org)

Education resources

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Government spending on education

In 2009, total government spending on education amounted to USD 365 million, an increase of 7.6% over 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Healthcare

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Government spending on health

In 2009, total government spending on health amounted to USD 252.6 million, an increase of 6.99% over 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Roadways

The total length of the road network in Nicaragua was 19,137 Km by the end of 2005.

(Source: Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure)

Ports

There are six ports in Nicaragua. The ports operating in Nicaragua are - Port of Bluefields, Port of Corinto, El Bluff Port, El Rama Port, Puerto Cabezas and Port of Sandino.

(Source: worldportsource)

Airports

 (Source: aircraft-charter-world.com)

Telecommunications

In 2009, there were 0.25 million fixed telephone line subscribers and 3.2 million mobile phone subscribers in Nicaragua.

(Source: Central Bank of Nicaragua)

Internet access

In December 2009, Nicaragua had 600,000 internet users compared to 50,000 internet users in 2000. The internet penetration rate increased from 1.1% in 2000 to 10.0% in 2010.

(Source: internetworldstats.com)