Nicaragua: IDA resource allocation index (1=low to 6=high)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Nicaragua's IDA resource allocation index (1=low to 6=high) fell 0.02 on 2024 (from 3.05 to 3.03).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2024), the average change was −0.04 and a typical year strayed about 0.06 from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.05 in 2013 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.18 in 2024. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.07 a year. A straight line explains 98% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 2.84 for 2028. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2023 to 2025 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 0.08, against 0.17 for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

In 2025, Nicaragua had the 48th highest value of the 72 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Nicaragua in the 2025 ranking

• Sierra Leone — 45th of 72: 3.07
• Djibouti — 46th of 72: 3.06
• Bangladesh — 47th of 72: 3.04
• Liberia — 49th of 72: 3.01
• Solomon Islands — 50th of 72: 2.98
• Maldives — 51st of 72: 2.95

What this measures

The CPIA measures the extent to which a country’s policy and institutional framework supports sustainable growth and poverty reduction, and consequently the effective use of development assistance. The outcome of the exercise yields both an overall score (the IDA resource allocation index) and scores for sixteen criteria that compose the CPIA. These criteria include: A. Economic Management (1. Monetary and Exchange Rate Policies; 2. Fiscal Policy; 3. Debt Policy and Management), B. Structural Policies (4. Trade; 5. Financial Sector; 6. Business Regulatory Environment), C. Policies for Social Inclusion/Equity (7. Gender equality; 8. Equity of public resource use; 9. Building human resources; 10. Social protection and labor; 11. Policies and institutions for environmental sustainability), D. Public Sector Management and Institutions (12. Property rights and rule-based governance; 13. Quality of budgetary and financial management; 14. Efficiency of revenue mobilization; 15. Quality of public administration; 16. Transparency, accountability, and corruption in the public sector).

Limitations: The CPIA exercise is intended to capture the quality of a country's policies and institutional arrangements, focusing on key elements that are within the country's control, rather than on outcomes (such as economic growth rates) that are influenced by events beyond the country's control. More specifically, the CPIA measures the extent to which a country's policy and institutional framework supports sustainable growth and poverty reduction and, consequently, the effective use of development assistance.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a unweighted average.

All 21 values

IDA resource allocation index (1=low to 6=high) in nearby economies

• Bolivia — 3.45 (2015)
• Dominica — 3.51 (2025)
• Grenada — 3.7 (2025)
• Guyana — 3.46 (2025)
• Haiti — 2.28 (2025)
• Honduras — 3.26 (2025)
• St. Lucia — 3.73 (2025)
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines — 3.44 (2025)

More public sector data for Nicaragua

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 116.37 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 4.28 billion (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 0.56% (2025)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (current LCU) — 23.13 billion (2024)
• Net investment in nonfinancial assets (% of GDP) — 3.21% (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (current LCU) — 16.84 billion (2024)
• Net lending (+) / net borrowing (-) (% of GDP) — 2.33% (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 11.04 billion (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 7.08% (2024)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Nicaragua's IDA resource allocation index (1=low to 6=high)?

3.03 in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2005?

It is down 18.61% from 3.72 in 2005 (1.02% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 3.8 in 2008 and the lowest 3.03 in 2025.

How does Nicaragua rank?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator IQ.CPA.IRAI.XQ, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: CPIA database, World Bank Group (WBG), uri: https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/int/search/dataset/0038988 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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