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Nicaragua statistics: country profile & rankings

Updated on by Georank team

Nicaragua is a lower-middle-income country with a population of 6.92M people. The capital and largest city is Managua, with 937K residents. Nicaragua shares land borders with Honduras and Costa Rica.

Nicaragua ranks 131/197 by GDP ($19.7B) and 141/197 by GDP per capita ($2,848). The top export category is textiles & consumer goods, while the top import is machinery & equipment.

Main facts and rankings

Nicaragua Rank
Population
7079664
107/197
GDP
$19.7B
2024
131/197
GDP per capita
$2,848
2024
141/197
GDP per capita, PPP
$8,709
2024
135/197
Government debt
$7.7B
2024
134/185
Debt-to-GDP ratio
38.4%
2025
140/185
Government debt per person
$1,114
2024
139/185
Average annual personal income after taxes
$2,445
2025
155/197
Land area 46,464 sq mi 98/197
Population density 148.9 ppl/mi² 132/197
Fertility rate 2.22 88/196
Median age 26.6 years 125/196
Life expectancy 75.3 years 89/197

Nicaragua trends dashboard: time-series charts

Nicaragua's economy ranked

Year GDP
1960 $227,223,322
1961 $244,144,237
1962 $269,283,804
1963 $297,324,163
1964 $347,119,918
1965 $564,290,020
1966 $607,140,010
1967 $657,140,011
1968 $692,859,985
1969 $750,000,003
1970 $778,569,939
1971 $828,569,953
1972 $878,570,045
1973 $1,092,900,015
1974 $1,521,400,012
1975 $1,581,599,959
1976 $1,836,899,999
1977 $2,226,999,874
1978 $2,127,699,979
1979 $1,567,599,982
1980 $2,144,300,006
1981 $2,474,700,227
1982 $2,454,499,872
1983 $2,753,100,058
1984 $3,117,599,872
1985 $2,683,699,935
1986 $2,885,799,994
1987 $3,851,200,118
1988 $2,630,900,096
1989 $1,013,184,756
1990 $1,009,455,484
1991 $1,488,804,124
1992 $1,792,800,000
1993 $1,756,454,248
1994 $3,863,185,119
1995 $4,140,470,000
1996 $4,308,351,903
1997 $4,389,973,490
1998 $4,635,347,386
1999 $4,856,026,259
2000 $5,109,587,050
2001 $5,351,752,034
2002 $5,223,727,303
2003 $5,322,228,351
2004 $5,792,932,838
2005 $6,321,324,279
2006 $6,763,672,381
2007 $7,423,375,015
2008 $8,496,967,597
2009 $8,298,702,489
2010 $8,758,602,233
2011 $9,774,329,333
2012 $10,532,017,232
2013 $10,982,988,249
2014 $11,880,438,824
2015 $12,756,696,261
2016 $13,286,093,388
2017 $13,785,893,007
2018 $13,025,221,974
2019 $12,699,023,614
2020 $12,726,422,432
2021 $14,209,020,362
2022 $15,634,572,502
2023 $17,805,842,284
2024 $19,693,982,968

Nicaragua's economy ranked

Year GDP per capita
1960 $127.5
1961 $132.9
1962 $142.3
1963 $152.5
1964 $172.7
1965 $272.3
1966 $284
1967 $297.9
1968 $304
1969 $319
1970 $321
1971 $331
1972 $341
1973 $413
1974 $557
1975 $561
1976 $633
1977 $744
1978 $691
1979 $495
1980 $659
1981 $740
1982 $714
1983 $780
1984 $861
1985 $724
1986 $761
1987 $992
1988 $662
1989 $249.2
1990 $242.5
1991 $350
1992 $411
1993 $394
1994 $849
1995 $892
1996 $911
1997 $913
1998 $949
1999 $980
2000 $1,017
2001 $1,052
2002 $1,014
2003 $1,021
2004 $1,099
2005 $1,183
2006 $1,248
2007 $1,350
2008 $1,524
2009 $1,467
2010 $1,527
2011 $1,680
2012 $1,785
2013 $1,835
2014 $1,958
2015 $2,074
2016 $2,132
2017 $2,183
2018 $2,035
2019 $1,959
2020 $1,938
2021 $2,138
2022 $2,323
2023 $2,609
2024 $2,848

Nicaragua's life expectancy calculator

Year Life expectancy, years
1950 40.6
1951 40.8
1952 41.9
1953 42.4
1954 43.1
1955 43.7
1956 44.3
1957 44.9
1958 45.5
1959 46.1
1960 46.4
1961 47.3
1962 48
1963 48.8
1964 49.6
1965 50.6
1966 51.6
1967 52.3
1968 52.9
1969 53.4
1970 53.8
1971 54.2
1972 48
1973 55
1974 55.4
1975 55.8
1976 56.1
1977 56.1
1978 53.5
1979 50.8
1980 58
1981 58.3
1982 58.7
1983 56.9
1984 56.1
1985 56.4
1986 57.6
1987 57.3
1988 59.8
1989 61.9
1990 62.5
1991 63.3
1992 63.7
1993 64.1
1994 64.5
1995 64.9
1996 65.2
1997 65.5
1998 64.1
1999 65.9
2000 66.4
2001 67
2002 68
2003 68.7
2004 69.5
2005 70.4
2006 71
2007 71.2
2008 71.4
2009 71.5
2010 71.8
2011 72
2012 72.4
2013 72.6
2014 72.8
2015 72.9
2016 73.2
2017 73.4
2018 73.9
2019 73.8
2020 70.8
2021 70.5
2022 74.5
2023 74.9
2024 75.1
2025 75.3

Nicaragua's population clock and projection

Year Population
1960 1,782,370
1961 1,836,451
1962 1,892,320
1963 1,950,159
1964 2,010,176
1965 2,072,681
1966 2,137,820
1967 2,205,567
1968 2,275,836
1969 2,348,398
1970 2,423,065
1971 2,499,825
1972 2,573,578
1973 2,649,278
1974 2,732,075
1975 2,816,943
1976 2,903,851
1977 2,992,534
1978 3,080,314
1979 3,164,525
1980 3,252,403
1981 3,345,674
1982 3,438,745
1983 3,530,282
1984 3,619,104
1985 3,706,479
1986 3,794,157
1987 3,882,164
1988 3,972,320
1989 4,066,476
1990 4,162,559
1991 4,259,637
1992 4,357,026
1993 4,453,732
1994 4,549,316
1995 4,642,931
1996 4,729,974
1997 4,809,573
1998 4,883,655
1999 4,954,018
2000 5,022,633
2001 5,087,825
2002 5,149,909
2003 5,210,963
2004 5,272,912
2005 5,342,105
2006 5,418,855
2007 5,497,243
2008 5,576,593
2009 5,656,601
2010 5,737,450
2011 5,819,051
2012 5,901,287
2013 5,983,845
2014 6,066,492
2015 6,149,417
2016 6,232,666
2017 6,316,231
2018 6,400,080
2019 6,483,657
2020 6,565,267
2021 6,644,741
2022 6,730,654
2023 6,823,613
2024 6,916,140

Nicaragua's birth and fertility rates

Year Fertility rate
1960 7.16
1961 7.11
1962 7.1
1963 7.08
1964 7.06
1965 7.03
1966 6.99
1967 6.94
1968 6.89
1969 6.83
1970 6.77
1971 6.71
1972 6.65
1973 6.59
1974 6.52
1975 6.45
1976 6.37
1977 6.28
1978 6.16
1979 6.07
1980 5.96
1981 5.84
1982 5.74
1983 5.61
1984 5.49
1985 5.36
1986 5.22
1987 5.07
1988 4.93
1989 4.76
1990 4.6
1991 4.43
1992 4.27
1993 4.1
1994 3.94
1995 3.78
1996 3.62
1997 3.47
1998 3.34
1999 3.22
2000 3.12
2001 3
2002 2.89
2003 2.83
2004 2.78
2005 2.77
2006 2.73
2007 2.7
2008 2.66
2009 2.63
2010 2.6
2011 2.56
2012 2.53
2013 2.49
2014 2.46
2015 2.43
2016 2.41
2017 2.38
2018 2.35
2019 2.32
2020 2.3
2021 2.27
2022 2.24
2023 2.22

Nicaragua's demographics

Year Median age, years
1960 16.2
1961 16.1
1962 16
1963 15.9
1964 15.9
1965 15.9
1966 16
1967 16
1968 16
1969 16.1
1970 16.1
1971 16.1
1972 16.2
1973 16.2
1974 16.2
1975 16.2
1976 16.2
1977 16.2
1978 16.2
1979 16.2
1980 16.2
1981 16.2
1982 16.2
1983 16.3
1984 16.3
1985 16.3
1986 16.3
1987 16.4
1988 16.4
1989 16.5
1990 16.7
1991 16.8
1992 17
1993 17.2
1994 17.4
1995 17.6
1996 17.9
1997 18.1
1998 18.4
1999 18.8
2000 19.1
2001 19.4
2002 19.7
2003 20.1
2004 20.4
2005 20.8
2006 21.1
2007 21.4
2008 21.7
2009 22
2010 22.2
2011 22.5
2012 22.8
2013 23.1
2014 23.4
2015 23.7
2016 24
2017 24.3
2018 24.7
2019 25
2020 25.3
2021 25.6
2022 25.9
2023 26.3
2024 26.6

Nicaragua vs. World: Interactive Maps

Use the buttons below to toggle between world maps that display different statistics comparing Nicaragua with other countries.

GDP per capita

GDP

Life expectancy

Population

Population density

Fertility rate

Median age

Land area

Nicaragua: National Statistics

Finance

Nicaragua Rank
GNI, Atlas method
$17.4B
2024
132/194
Government expenditure, % of GDP
27.2%
2025
115/195
Education expenditure, % of GDP
2.87%
2023
148/193
Military expenditure, % of GDP
0.55%
2023
151/163
Armed forces personnel
12,000
2020
127/174
Deficit/surplus, % of GDP
+0.86%
2025
17/188
Unemployment rate
5.2%
2018
97/196
Services, % of GDP
46.8%
2024
149/191
Industry, % of GDP
27.6%
2024
71/194
Economic freedom index
54
2025
139/197
Income share by richest 10%
37.2%
2014
13/169
Income share by poorest 10%
2%
2014
138/169
Total reserves including gold
$6.1B
2024
91/177
Personal remittances received
$5.25B
2024
36/190
International tourist arrivals
474,000
2020
125/188
International tourism as share of exports
15.2%
1999
46/184
Banked people share
23.5%
2024
147/158

Energy

Nicaragua Rank
Energy use, kg of oil equivalent per capita
608 kg
2022
124/177
GDP PPP per kg equivalent of energy use
$12.8
2022
104/173
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions
5.73 megatons
2023
131/187
CO2 emissions per capita
0.84 tons
2023
136/187
Fossil fuel energy use share
39.9%
2022
117/176
Renewable energy use share
50.4%
2021
47/193
Alternative and nuclear energy use share
17%
2022
32/147
Net energy imports use share
46.5%
2022
50/144
Electric power consumption per capita
682 kWh
2022
115/147
Renewable electricity output share
69.5%
2021
41/192
Hydroelectric share
14.9%
2022
93/192
Nuclear share
0%
2021
138/192
Electricity access
88.3%
2023
143/195

Society

Nicaragua Rank
% of world population
0.08%
2024
108/197
Annual migration change
-8,189
2024
134/196
Urban population
60.2%
2024
103/195
Male:Female ratio
50:50
2024
N/A
Average male height
5.57 ft
2025
136/190
Average female height
5.1 ft
2025
168/190
Quality of life index
28.5
2025
158/197
Corruption Perceptions Index
14
2024
189/197
Higher education index
25
2025
139/183
Homicides per 100K people
11
2021
35/197
Road traffic mortality per 100K people
16.9
2019
80/197
Visa free countries
126
2025
84/195
Adult literacy rate
82.6%
2015
145/196
English speaking
1%
2025
184/197
People using the Internet
58.2%
2023
139/195

Health

Nicaragua Rank
Government health expenditure per capita
$208.5
2022
124/191
Out-of-pocket health expenditure per capita
$74.3
2022
112/191
Life expectancy
75.3 years
2025
89/197
Foreign aid share of health expenditure
5.16%
2022
76/178
Physicians per 1,000 people
0.66
2018
134/193
Age at first childbirth
19.2 years
2025
130/137
Maternal mortality per 100K births
60
2023
86/193
Mortality rate before reaching 5 years of age, per 1,000 live births
13.4
2023
104/192
Obesity rate
34.5%
2022
30/189
Diabetes prevalence
10.4%
2024
70/195
Air quality index
58
2025
84/197
Pure alcohol consumption per capita
3.67 liters
2020
105/186

Territory

Nicaragua Rank
% of world land
0.08%
2025
98/197
Land area per capita
6,718 sq mi
2024
66/197
Agricultural land area
19,656 sq mi
2025
86/194
Forest area
11,998 sq mi
2025
89/196
Roads length
14,849 mi
2014
89/175

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