What would a basic income cost in Nicaragua?
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Total cost per year
101 billion Nicaraguan córdobas
about 2.76 billion US dollars
7.01 million people × 1,200 Nicaraguan córdobas a month × 12 months
Compared with
- Government expense (central) (2023)76.1%
- Government revenue (central, excl. grants) (2024)57.6%
- Tax revenue (central government) (2024)61.7%
- GDP (nominal) (2025)12.4%
Nicaragua in numbers
Nicaragua has a population of 7.01 million (2025) and a GDP of 814 billion Nicaraguan córdobas (about 22.2 billion US dollars) in 2025.
Paying everyone 1,200 Nicaraguan córdobas a month would cost 101 billion Nicaraguan córdobas a year (about 2.76 billion US dollars), or 12.4% of GDP. That equals 76.1% of central government expense (2023), 57.6% of its revenue (2024), and 61.7% of its tax revenue (2024).
Children only (under 18: 2.38 million) would cost 34.3 billion Nicaraguan córdobas a year (4.2% of GDP); adults only (18 and over: 4.63 million), 66.6 billion Nicaraguan córdobas (8.2%).
Default amount: 1,200 Nicaraguan córdobas a month is the World Bank's international poverty line of $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), converted into Nicaraguan córdobas with the World Bank's PPP conversion factor for household consumption (2025) and rounded to two significant figures. It is a reference point, not a policy proposal; change it above.
How to read this
This is the gross cost: the total paid out. The real net cost depends on which taxes fund it, which benefits or tax breaks it replaces and whether the payment is taxed. The population, budget and GDP figures are not all from the same year (see the sources).
Sources for the figures
- Population
- World Bank: population, total (SP.POP.TOTL), and population by single year of age 0 to 17 (SP.POP.AG00.FE.IN … SP.POP.AG17.MA.IN), 2025
- SP.POP.AG00.FE.IN … SP.POP.AG17.MA.IN
- Government expense and tax revenue
- World Bank: central government expense, revenue excluding grants and tax revenue, % of GDP (GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS, GC.REV.XGRT.GD.ZS, GC.TAX.TOTL.GD.ZS), 2023, 2024
- Default amount
- World Bank: international poverty line of $3.00 a day (2021 PPP), June 2025 update
- World Bank: PPP conversion factor, household final consumption (PA.NUS.PRVT.PP), 2025
- Retrieved from the World Bank API on November 9, 2026 (CC BY 4.0). Government figures are central government, as a share of GDP in their own year, applied to the latest GDP.