Demographics of Nicaragua

According to the 2022 revision of the World Population Prospects, Nicaragua has a population of 6,850,540.. A 2014 study published in the journal Genetics and Molecular Biology, Indigenous ancestry predominates in 74% of Nicaraguans, followed by African ancestry in 14%, and lastly European ancestry in 11%. A Japanese research of "Genomic Components in America's demography" demonstrated that, on average, the ancestry of Nicaraguans is 30% European, 68% Native American, and 2% 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 45% are mestizo, 12% white, 29% Native American, and 14% black. This fluctuates with changes in migration patterns. The population is 58% urban as of 2013.

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.