Income per Person (GDP per capita, PPP) in Nicaragua: 1800 to Today (and Tomorrow)

To understand the daily reality of human life in Nicaragua across three centuries, we look to the average yearly economic output per person, adjusted for purchasing power in 2017 international dollars. Every value recorded here is a statistical fact about the lives actually lived there. These figures chart the material conditions that shaped generations, marking the slow accumulation of resources available for food, shelter, health, and community. Numbers alone cannot capture a lifetime, but they map the shifting economic perimeter within which every Nicaraguan story has unfolded.

The historical arc moves across more than two centuries of measured progress, starting from an 1800s estimate of 1,000 intl-$ and an 1810s estimate of 1,070 intl-$. Growth continued steadily through the 1820s estimate of 1,140 intl-$, the 1830s estimate of 1,210 intl-$, the 1840s estimate of 1,280 intl-$, the 1850s estimate of 1,350 intl-$, the 1860s estimate of 1,420 intl-$, the 1870s estimate of 1,490 intl-$, the 1880s estimate of 1,560 intl-$, and the 1890s estimate of 1,630 intl-$. By 1900 it was 1,700 intl-$, with the 1900s estimate matching this baseline. Expansion persisted through the 1910s estimate of 2,160 intl-$, the 1920s estimate of 2,620 intl-$, the 1930s estimate of 3,080 intl-$, and the 1940s estimate of 3,540 intl-$. The trajectory advanced further in the 1950s at 4,000 intl-$, the 1960s at 5,667 intl-$, the 1970s at 7,333 intl-$, the 1980s at 9,000 intl-$, the 1990s at 10,000 intl-$, the 2000s at 11,000 intl-$, and the 2010s at 12,750 intl-$.

In the 2020s, income per person in Nicaragua stands at 14,500 intl-$ — ranking #99 of 157 countries. Looking forward, projections anticipate the 2030s projection of 16,675 intl-$, the 2040s projection of 19,176 intl-$, the 2050s projection of 22,053 intl-$, the 2060s projection of 25,361 intl-$, the 2070s projection of 29,165 intl-$, the 2080s projection of 33,539 intl-$, the 2090s projection of 38,570 intl-$, and the 2100s projection of 44,356 intl-$. Where do YOU rank among everyone ever born? →