According to , Nicaragua has a population of . According to Morera-Bernal (2006) the genetic genepool of nicaraguans ir 47% European ancestry, 37%, Indigenous ancestry and 17% African ancestryEstimacion de la mezcla genetica en la poblacion de Nicaragua Morera, Bernal. Universidad de Costa Rica. A 2014 study published in the journal Genetics and Molecular Biology, European ancestry predominates in 69% of Nicaraguans, followed by African ancestry in 20%, and lastly Indigenous ancestry in 11%. A Japanese research of "Genomic Components in America's demography" demonstrated that, on average, the ancestry of Nicaraguans is 58% European, 28% Native American, and 14% African, with a very small Near Eastern contribution. Non-genetic data from the CIA World Factbook establishes that from Nicaragua's 2016 population of 5,966,798, around 69% are mestizo, 17% white, 5% Native American, and 9% black. This fluctuates with changes in migration patterns. The population is 58% urban .
Following the Sandinista revolution in 1979, many of the migrants who left the country were landed people of upper and middle-class origin who wanted to avoid the Sandinistas' agrarian reforms that were being carried out. A growing number of these people have returned, while many continue to live abroad.
42.5% of the population lives below the poverty line. The general poverty rate is estimated at 47.3%, although much of the population falls in the lower middle class due to low salaries and a low GDP (US$1000–3000).
The most populous city in the country is the capital city, Managua, with a population of 1.2 million (2005). As of 2005, over 4.4 million inhabitants (82%) live in the Pacific, Central and Northern regions. 2.7 million inhabitants (about 50%, not including Managua) reside in the Pacific region alone, while inhabitants in the Caribbean region only reach an estimated 700,000.
The Census Bureau in Nicaragua is the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC). The institution is in charge of completing censuses and surveys. INEC ran its first census in 1906, the last census was taken in 2005, it was the eighth to date.
Population
According to the total population was in , compared to only 1,295,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 34.5%, 60.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 4.6% was 65 years or older . YearTotal population (million)Proportion percentage aged 0–14 aged 15–64 aged 65+ 19501 295 19551 508 19601 775 19652 063 19702 400 19752 798 19803 250 19853 710 19904 138 19954 659 20005 069 20055 439 20105 824 20156 223 20206 625
Structure of the population
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 2 844 244 2 898 072 5 742 316 100 0-4 347 205 332 920 680 125 11.84 5-9 336 817 323 279 660 096 11.50 10-14 344 831 332 925 677 756 11.80 15-19 331 536 329 072 660 608 11.50 20-24 286 484 290 439 576 923 10.05 25-29 250 672 260 730 511 402 8.91 30-34 197 120 214 967 412 087 7.18 35-39 162 472 174 845 337 317 5.87 40-44 136 223 143 572 279 795 4.87 45-49 115 914 124 028 239 942 4.18 50-54 98 355 107 733 206 088 3.59 55-59 74 173 80 156 154 329 2.69 60-64 45 221 48 460 93 681 1.63 65-69 43 121 46 230 89 351 1.56 70-74 32 418 35 443 67 861 1.18 75-79 22 249 25 956 48 205 0.84 80+ 19 433 27 317 46 750 0.81Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent 0-14 1 028 853 989 124 2 017 977 35.14 15-64 1 698 170 1 774 002 3 472 172 60.47 65+ 117 221 134 946 252 167 4.39
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 3 357 138 3 446 748 6 803 886 100 0–4 328 587 314 177 642 764 5–9 339 464 324 833 664 297 10–14 338 766 324 761 663 527 15–19 318 320 306 443 624 763 20–24 299 073 290 339 589 412 25–29 294 819 293 641 588 460 30–34 272 934 282 281 555 215 35–39 240 254 255 454 495 708 40–44 209 895 231 173 441 068 45–49 167 212 190 927 358 139 50–54 137 219 154 183 291 402 55–59 115 265 128 180 243 445 60–64 97 984 111 544 209 528 65-69 79 279 92 356 171 635 70-74 51 336 60 269 111 605 75-79 30 342 36 448 66 790 80+ 36 389 49 739 86 128 Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPercent 0–14 1 006 817 963 771 1 970 588 28.96 15–64 2 152 975 2 244 165 4 397 140 64.63 65+ 197 346 238 812 436 158 6.41
Population distribution Ninety percent of Nicaraguans live in the Pacific lowlands and the adjacent interior highlands. The population is 54% urban. The most populous city in Nicaragua is the capital city, Managua, with a population of 1.2 million (2005). As of 2005, over 4.4 million inhabitants live in the Pacific, Central and North regions, accounting for 82% of the population. There are 2.7 million residents in the Pacific region, not including Managua. The Caribbean region, including the Mosquito Coast, has an estimated 700,000 residents. In addition, many Nicaraguans live abroad.
Departments by population
+ Departments by population as of 2005Rank City Department Pop. (2005)1 Managua Managua 1,262,9782 Matagalpa Matagalpa 469,1723 Chinandega Chinandega 378,9704 León León 355,7795 Jinotega Jinotega 331,3356 Puerto Cabezas RAAN 314,1307 Bluefields RAAS 306,5108 Masaya Masaya 289,9889 Ocotal Nueva Segovia 208,52310 Estelí Estelí 201,54811 Granada Granada 168,18612 Jinotepe Carazo 166,07313 Rivas Rivas 156,28314 Juigalpa Chontales 153,93215 Boaco Boaco 150,63616 Somoto Madriz 132,45917 San Carlos Río San Juan 95,59618 Total -- 5,142,098
Vital statistics UN estimates Registration of vital events is in Nicaragua not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.
PeriodLive birthsper yearDeathsper yearNatural changeper yearCBR*CDR*NC*TFR*IMR*Life expectancy total for males for females 1950–1955 77 000 32 000 45 00054.923.031.97.2017242.340.943.7 1955–1960 89 000 33 000 56 00054.220.433.87.5015145.444.146.8 1960–1965 93 000 33 000 60 00048.517.031.57.1013148.747.350.0 1965–1970 103 000 32 000 71 00046.314.431.96.9511452.050.553.4 1970–1975 120 000 33 000 88 00046.312.633.76.799855.353.756.8 1975–1980 137 000 34 000 102 00045.211.333.96.359057.655.360.0 1980–1985 149 000 35 000 114 00042.910.132.75.858059.556.562.6 1985–1990 150 000 33 000 117 00038.28.429.85.006562.259.065.5 1990–1995 156 000 29 000 127 00035.46.528.94.504866.163.568.7 1995–2000 147 000 27 000 120 00030.15.624.63.603468.465.971.1 2000–2005 139 000 26 000 112 00025.85.220.62.912670.968.073.8 2005–2010 140 000 27 000 113 00024.35.119.22.682272.969.976.0 2010–2015 22.85.017.82.54 2015–2020 20.95.115.82.42 2020–2025 18.75.113.62.28 2025–2030 17.15.311.82.16 * CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)
Registered births and deaths
YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increase Crude migration (per thousands)TFR 1990 3,959,785 1991 4,058,434 1992 4,162,367 1993 4,268,685 1994 4,374,490 1995 4,476,881 1996 4,574,524 1997 4,669,352 1998 4,763,366 1999 4,858,570 2000 4,956,964 2001 5,058,643 2002 5,162,275 2003 5,267,714 2004 5,374,820 2005 5,483,447 121,380 16,770 104,610 22.1 3.1 19.0 2.94 2006 5,522,606 123,886 16,595 107,291 22.4 3.0 19.4 -12.3 2007 5,595,541 128,171 17,288 110,883 22.9 3.1 19.8 -6.6 2.51 2008 5,668,876 129,506 18,262 111,244 22.8 3.2 19.6 -6.5 2.49 2009 5,742,310 132,222 18,179 114,043 23.0 3.2 19.8 -6.8 2.49 2010 5,815,524 132,165 19,944 112,221 22.7 3.4 19.3 -6.6 2.46 2011 5,996,619 140,958 19,523 121,435 23.5 3.3 20.2 10.9 2.54 2012 6,071,045 142,874 20,300 122,574 23.5 3.3 20.2 -7.8 2.54 2013 6,134,270 142,756 21,381 121,375 23.3 3.5 19.8 -9.4 2.53 2014 6,198,154 143,421 22,469 120,952 23.1 3.6 19.5 -9.1 2.52 2015 6,262,703 144,597 23,540 121,057 23.1 3.8 19.3 -8.9 2.52 2016 6,327,927 139,595 23,738 115,857 22.1 3.8 18.3 -7.9 2.43 2017 6,393,824 139,487 24,300 115,187 21.8 3.8 18.0 -7.6 2.42 2018 6,460,411 139,126 24,296 114,830 21.5 3.8 17.7 -7.3 2.42 2019 6,527,691 131,673 25,340 106,333 20.1 3.9 16.2 - 5.8 2.28 2020 6,595,674 124,365 33,681 90,684 18.9 5.1 13.8 -3.4 2.16 2021 6,664,000 120,473 34,999 85,474 17.5 5.0 12.5 -2.1 20226,734,000 118,118 26,858 91,260 17.5 4.0 13.5 2023 106,439 26,162 80,277 15.6 3.8 11.8 1.8 2024 2025
Demographic and Health Surveys Total Fertility Rate (TFR) (Wanted Fertility Rate) and Crude Birth Rate (CBR):
Year Total Urban Rural CBR TFR CBR TFR CBR TFR 1998 29 3,6 (2,5) 2,9 (2,0) 5,0 (3,3) 2001 27 3,2 (2,3) 24 2,6 (1,8) 31 4,4 (3,0) 2006–2007 2,7 2,2 3,5 2011/2012 2,4 2,1 2,9
Ethnic groups
According to the 2005 census 2,063,100 (29.9%) residents consider themselves to belong to an indigenous people or to an ethnic community. The remaining majority of the Nicaraguan population (71%) are deemed mestizo and white, with the majority of these being of Spanish, with some German, Italian, Portuguese and French ancestry. Mestizos and whites mainly reside in the western region of the country.
Possibly also a part of the black or Afro-Nicaraguan population, which mainly resides on the country's sparsely populated Caribbean (or Atlantic) coast, is included in the majority population which does not consider itself to belong to an ethnic community. In the 2005 census, there were 966,000 Creoles (14% of the total population). The Creole population is mostly of Afro-Caribbean origin, the descendants of indentured laborers brought mostly from Jamaica when the region was a British colony.
Primarily in the 19th century, Nicaragua saw several waves of immigration from European nations. In particular the northern cities of Jinotega and Matagalpa have significant populations of fourth generation Germans.
The Garifuna, a people of mixed Carib, Angolan, Congolese and Arawak descent, numbered 207,000 in 2005 (3%). 55,200 people considered themselves "Mestizo de la Costa Caribe" (mestizo of the Caribbean coast). In addition to the inhabitants who declared themselves Indigenous or Ethnic community, 13,740 answered "Other". Another 47,473 responded "Not Sure" and an additional 19,460 responded "Ignore".
Indigenous population The Native American population, the unmixed descendants of the country's indigenous inhabitants, numbered 2,063,100 (29.9% of the total population) in 2005. Nicaragua's pre-Columbian consisted of many indigenous groups. In the western region, the Nicarao people were present along with other groups such as the Maya, Mangue, Chorotega, and Subtiaba, all five being considered Mesoamerican peoples.
The central region and the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua were mainly inhabited by speakers of Misumalpan languages and some speakers of Chibchan languages. These groups include the Miskitos (690,000 people), Matagalpa (15,240 people), Ramas (4,185 people), Sumos (9,756 people) and Ulwa (698 people).
In the 19th century, the indigenous population was more demographically significant, but they have since largely been culturally assimilated into the mestizo majority. In the mid-1980s, the government divided the department of Zelaya – consisting of the eastern half of the country — into two autonomous regions and granted the black and indigenous people of this region limited self-rule within the Republic.
Those belonging to recognized indigenous communities (2005)Rama53,1300.77%Maya483,0007%Sumo138,0002%Miskito690,00010%Ulwa6980.01%Matagalpa15,2400.22%Subtiaba69,0001%Nahua552,0008%
Migration Immigration Relative to its overall population, Nicaragua has never experienced any large scale wave of immigrants. The total number of immigrants to Nicaragua, both originating from other Latin American countries and all other countries, never surpassed 1% of its total population prior to 1995. The 2005 census showed the foreign-born population at 1.2%, having risen 0.06% in 10 years. However, in the 19th century, Nicaragua received immigrants from Europe, who established many agricultural businesses such as coffee and sugar cane plantations, and also newspapers, hotels and banks.
Emigration