Central Bank of Nicaragua - BCN: Quarterly GDP Growth for the Fourth Quarter of 2025

The Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN) published the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) results for the fourth quarter of 2025, which show that economic activity maintained its dynamism, with quarterly GDP (QGDP) registering year-on-year growth of 6.0 percent (6.1% in the previous quarter). With this result, growth for 2025 reached 4.9 percent, according to the preliminary estimate in the original data series.

In the seasonally adjusted QGDP series, growth of 1.5 percent was registered in this quarter compared to the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the underlying trend-cycle series registered growth of 1.5 percent compared to the previous quarter, 6.3 percent year-on-year, and 5.0 percent in the average annual rate.

From a production perspective, the year-on-year change in GDP was driven by growth in the following sectors: construction (26.7%), trade (9.9%), water supply (8.4%), manufacturing (8.2%), hotels and restaurants (8.0%), livestock (7.1%), transportation and communications (6.3%), and financial intermediation (5.0%), among others. Conversely, declines were recorded in electricity (-3.7%), public administration and defense (-3.3%), and forestry and logging (-2.6%).

From an expenditure perspective, GDP growth was driven by domestic demand, due to increased consumption (6.7%) and fixed investment (21.1%). This was partially offset by a decrease in net external demand, resulting from the larger contribution of import growth (4.2%) compared to the contribution of export growth (4.2%).

Finally, at current prices, the quarterly GDP, in the original series, reflected year-on-year growth of 15.9 percent and an average annual growth rate of 12.9 percent.

Source: 19 Digital - Nicaragua