Nicaragua: Immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2023, Nicaragua's immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months) fell 8 percentage points on 2022 (from 93% to 85%).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 29 percentage points in 1992 and the biggest yearly fall was 28 percentage points in 1991. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2014 to 2023 the straight-line trend is downward, about 1.54 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 56% 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.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

What this measures

Child immunization, measles, measures the percentage of children ages 12-23 months who received the measles vaccination before 12 months or at any time before the survey. A child is considered adequately immunized against measles after receiving one dose of vaccine.

Limitations: In many developing countries a lack of precise information on the size of the cohort of one-year-old children makes immunization coverage difficult to estimate from program statistics.

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

All 44 values

Immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months) in nearby economies

• Antigua and Barbuda — 97% (2024)
• Argentina — 82% (2024)
• Bahamas, The — 86% (2024)
• Barbados — 88% (2024)
• Belize — 84% (2024)
• Bolivia — 67% (2024)
• Brazil — 93% (2024)
• Chile — 93% (2024)
• Colombia — 93% (2024)
• Costa Rica

More health data for Nicaragua

• Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 9.02% (2025)
• Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 9.61% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female — 976,928 (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 27.44% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male — 1.01 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 29.21% (2025)
• Population ages 0-14, total — 1.98 million (2025)
• Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 28.31% (2025)
• Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 9.17% (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Nicaragua's immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months)?

85% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1980?

It is up 70 percentage points from 15% in 1980. The highest value was 99% in 2001 and the lowest 15% in 1980.

Is the latest change in immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months) unusual for Nicaragua?

In 2023, Nicaragua's immunization, measles (% of children ages 12-23 months) fell 8 percentage points on 2022 (from 93% to 85%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1993 to 2022), the average change was +0.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 5.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Where does this data come from?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SH.IMM.MEAS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Health Organization (WHO), uri: http://www.who.int/immunization/monitoring_surveillance/en/; UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), uri: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/immunization/ 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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