Nicaragua at a Glance

Population: 5 million, growing at 2.7 per year
Ethnicity: 77% Mestizo, 10% Spanish/European, 9% Black, 4% Native Indigenous
Area: 120,254 sq. Km, slightly smaller than the state of New York

General Social Statistics:
· Over half of the population is under 16 years of age.
· 80% of the population lives in poverty, 17% in extreme poverty (Independent analysts estimate 90 percent poverty).
· Nicaragua is the third poorest country in the hemisphere, after Haiti and Guatemala.
· Women head 34% of urban homes and 17% of rural homes.
· 32% of homes in Managua have no electricity, in the Atlantic Coast regions 17%
· Nicaragua has the highest tax rates in Central America (including a 15% sales tax)
· From 1993 to 2001 the number of child workers grew by 400%. 43% of these do not attend school and 60% are illiterate.

External Debt:
· In 2001: $6.5 billion (about $1,400 per Nicaraguan)
· Annual payments: $225 million
· Debt is three times the Gross Domestic Product, the highest debt in Central America and the highest per capita in Latin America
· Average per capita income: about $430 a year
· Nicaragua became one of the 41 members of the Highly Indepted Poor Countries Initiative by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund

Education:
· 34% of Nicaraguans are illiterate, in rural areas this is 46%
· The national average for years of schooling is only 3.5 years
· Over half of school-age children do not (cannot) attend class
· Six of every 10 urban children go to school, one of every 10 rual children go to school
· Only 12 of every 100 Nicaraguan youths attends university

Health:
· Maternal mortality is 200 per 100,000 live births, one of the highest in the hemisphere (compared to less than 10 per 100,000 live births in the USA). 60% of maternal deaths occur outside hospitals.
· Nicaragua has the highest adolescent pregnancy rate in Central America.
· Life expectancy is 68 years.
· One of three children is malnourished.
· More than two thirds of Nicaraguan children under four have iron deficiencies.
· More than half the deaths of children under four are caused by preventable diseases (diarrhea, pnuemonia, malnutrition etc).

Unemployment and Wages:
· 49.5% live on less than a dollar a day Nicaragua has the smallest per capita income in Central America
· 68% of the population earns only 20% of the national wealth
· 60% of the working-age population works in the informal sector
· Open unemployement was 14.3% in 2000, underemployment was 41%
· Nicaraguans between 15 and 24 years old have an unemployment rate twice that of those 25-49 years old
· 30% of rural women are unemployed
· In 2000, the cost of maintaining a family of four for one month (canasta básica) was 2,118 córdobas ($170). Ninety percent of homes earned one canasta básica, 71.4 percent earned one, 41.5% earned less than one canasta básica.
· In 2000 minimum wages ranged from $36.44 a month for agricultural workers to $97.17 a month for construction workers. Maquila workers earn a minimum of $60 a month.
· Nicaraguan women earn about 40% of what men earn.
· Family remittances were $300-600 million (depending on the study) in 1999. One of every four families receives remittances from family members working in the U.S.

Effects Associated with Neoliberal Policies and Structural Adjustment:
· Spending on education fell from $40 per Nicaraguan in the 1980s to $9 today
· Illiteracy rose from 18% in 1990 to 34% in 2000, 46% in rural areas
· Spending on health fell from $35-40 per Nicaraguan in the 1980s to $13 today, and is now the lowest in Central America
· Nicaragua's maternal mortality rate increased 53% from 1997-99
· Since 1990, union membership has fallen from 65% to 13%
· From 1990 to 1999, more than 140,000 government workers were fired because of budget cuts, affecting approximately 860,000 family members and other dependents.
· Since 1998, electricity rates have risen 62% in preparation for the privatization stipulated in Nicaragua's structural adjustment plans (ESAF's).

Sources: 2000 United Nations Development Project report, World Bank, Institute for Nicaraguan Studies (IEN), La Prensa, Nicaraguan government