Nicaragua’s IMAE shows 3% growth in June 2023 amid sectoral upswings and economic optimism

Nicaragua witnessed a 3% growth in its Monthly Economic Activity Index (IMAE) in June 2023 compared to the same month in the previous year, as detailed by the country’s Central Bank.

The IMAE gauges the performance of a nation’s 17 major economic sectors and informs investment decisions.

For the first half of 2023, from January to June, the IMAE exhibited a cumulative increase of 3.8% and an average yearly rate of 3.3% from July 2022 to June 2023.

Leading the growth were sectors like energy and water (30%), hospitality – including hotels and restaurants (22.3%), construction (13.6%), financial services (7.2%), and agriculture (4.1%).

Conversely, downturns were noted in fisheries and aquaculture (-31.4%), manufacturing (-3%), livestock (-0.8%), and mining and quarrying (-0.4%).

Nicaragua’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) saw a 3.8% uptick in 2022, marking the second consecutive year of expansion after three successive years of decline.

According to the Central Bank, inflation stood at 11.59% for the year. Notably, from 2018-2020, the Nicaraguan economy contracted by an average of -3.03% annually.

For 2023, the Central Bank projects economic growth ranging between 3% to 4%, with an inflation rate between 5% to 6%.