55% of Nicaraguans say they do not always have money to buy food, revealed the most recent survey by the firm Cid Gallup. This data reflects that more than 3 million 760 thousand nationals at some point of the week or month suffer from hunger due to the lack of purchasing power and the exponential increase in the products of the basic basket in Nicaragua.
According to the World Bank, the global population in Nicaragua for 2021 was around 6,850,540 inhabitants, so the 55% of Nicaraguans who report not always having money to subsist on food are around 3,767,797.
Nicaraguan households continue to be hit by the increase in the price of the basic basket, the upward trend has forced citizens to reduce the amount of products necessary for food.
Related news: Nicaraguan households need three minimum wages to cover basic basket costs
In the month of May the cost of the family basket was located at 19,214.41 córdobas, 19.74 córdobas less than the previous month, a drop that citizens do not perceive because even so, the price of food continues to be expensive for them.
If we compare the price of the basic basket in the month of May 2022, when it had a cost of 17,332.52 córdobas, we can notice that it has had an increase of 1,881.89 córdobas. An amount much higher than the minimum wage adjustment this year, which was barely 10%.
Despite the fact that the salary adjustment of this 2023 was greater than in other years, it is still insufficient to cover the cost of the basic food basket in Nicaragua, which currently exceeds 19,000 córdobas, that is, its cost exceeds three times more than the salary country minimum.
According to the CID Gallup survey, Nicaragua ranks fourth among Latin American countries where its citizens report not always having money to buy food with 55%, only surpassed by Peru with 56%, Honduras 59% and Venezuela 72%.
The public opinion survey was carried out through telephone calls to cell phones and with a sample of 1,200 citizens in each country. Data collection was between May and June 2023.
