Nicaragua Economy - 2004

Economy - overview:
Nicaragua, one of the hemisphere's poorest countries, faces low per capita income, massive unemployment, and huge external debt. Distribution of income is one of the most unequal on the globe. While the country has made progress toward macroeconomic stability over the past few years, GDP annual growth of 1.5% - 2.5% has been far too low to meet the country's need. Nicaragua will continue to be dependent on international aid and debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. Nicaragua has undertaken significant economic reforms that are expected to help the country qualify for more than $4 billion in debt relief under HIPC in early 2004. Donors have made aid conditional on the openness of government financial operation, poverty alleviation, and human rights. A three-year poverty reduction and growth plan, agreed to with the IMF in December 2002, guides economic policy.

GDP:
purchasing power parity - $11.49 billion (2003 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
1.4% (2003 est.)

GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $2,200 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 30.5%
industry: 22.5%
services: 47% (2002 est.)

Population below poverty line:
50% (2001 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.7%
highest 10%: 48.8% (1998)

Distribution of family income - Gini index:
60.3 (1998)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
5.3% (2003 est.)

Labor force:
1.7 million (1999)

Labor force - by occupation:
services 43%, agriculture 42%, industry 15% (1999 est.)

Unemployment rate:
22% plus considerable underemployment (2003 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $726 million
expenditures: $908 million, including capital expenditures of $NA (2000 est.)

Industries:
food processing, chemicals, machinery and metal products, textiles, clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear, wood

Industrial production growth rate:
4.4% (2000 est.)

Electricity - production:
2.549 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 83.9%
hydro: 7.7%
other: 8.4% (2001)
nuclear: 0%

Electricity - consumption:
2.388 billion kWh (2001)

Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)

Electricity - imports:
17 million kWh (2001)

Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - consumption:
24,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)

Oil - exports:
NA

Oil - imports:
NA

Agriculture - products:
coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice, corn, tobacco, sesame, soya, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry, dairy products

Exports:
$632 million f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Exports - commodities:
coffee, shrimp and lobster, cotton, tobacco, bananas, beef, sugar, gold

Exports - partners:
US 59.4%, El Salvador 7.5%, Honduras 4.8% (2002)

Imports:
$1.658 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)

Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, raw materials, petroleum products, consumer goods

Imports - partners:
US 23.6%, Costa Rica 10.2%, Guatemala 7.8%, Venezuela 7.1%, El Salvador 6%, Mexico 4.9%, South Korea 4.6% (2002)

Debt - external:
$5.8 billion (2003 est.)

Economic aid - recipient:
Substantial foreign support (2001)

Currency:
gold cordoba (NIO)

Currency code:
NIO

Exchange rates:
gold cordobas per US dollar - 14.25 (2003), 14.25 (2002), 13.37 (2001), 12.68 (2000), 11.81 (1999)