QCOSTARICA — Nicaragua has quickly become a country of ‘remittances’, a key lifeline for the economy during the latest year of Daniel Ortega’s government, which has been marked by growing unemployment and poverty.
According to data from Nicaragua’s Central Bank (Banco Central), Nicaraguan migrants sent relatives back home record remittances this year through November, about US$4.24 billion for the 11-month period in 2023, 47% more than the amount sent home during the same period last year, fueled by massive waves of migration leaving the country in recent years.
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The 2023 remittances tallied by Nicaragua’s central bank showed that nearly 60% came from the senders in the United States and almost 20% from Costa Rica.
Propelled in large part by outflows of migrants seeking better economic prospects, primarily in the United States, as well as those who have fled since deadly anti-government protests broke out in 2018, Nicaragua has seen especially large displacements in recent years along with record remittances so far this year.
U.S.-bound Nicaraguan migration hit a record last year with 164,600 migrant encounters counted by the U.S. government.
Last year, Nicaraguan migration to all countries surpassed 300,000, more than half(164,600) U.S.-bound, while overall 1.5 million Nicaraguans or about 22% of the country’s population, now live outside their home country, or about 22% of the country’s population, according to U.N. data analyzed by Dialogo Interamericano researcher Manuel Orozco.
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