Nicaragua - Agriculture

Agriculture provides a significant level of GDP and employment and two-thirds of the nation's exports. In 1998, the total value of agricultural exports was US$357.2 million and imports totaled $246.9 million. Agricultural workers earn an average of US$119.23 per month and are the lowest paid workers of any economic sector.

Communications
Country	Newspapers	Radios	TV Sets a	Cable subscribers a	Mobile Phones a	Fax Machines a	Personal Computers a	Internet Hosts b	Internet Users b
	1996	1997	1998	1998	1998	1998	1998	1999	1999
Nicaragua	30	285	190	40.2	4	N/A	7.8	2.21	20
United States	215	2,146	847	244.3	256	78.4	458.6	1,508.77	74,100
Mexico	97	325	261	15.7	35	3.0	47.0	23.02	1,822
Honduras	55	386	90	N/A	5	N/A	7.6	0.19	20
a Data are from International Telecommunication Union, World Telecommunication Development Report 1999 and are per 1,000 people.
b Data are from the Internet Software Consortium ( http://www.isc.org ) and are per 10,000 people.
SOURCE: World Bank. World Development Indicators 2000.

Worldmark Encyclopedia of National Economies 273

In 1998, Hurricane Mitch caused extensive damage to the nation's agricultural sector, including the destruction of crops and farm facilities and equipment. Damages from the hurricane totaled US$6 million in equipment and infrastructure. In addition, Mitch destroyed 59,000 acres of pasture and crop land and caused the deaths of 81,000 head of cattle. Because of Mitch, agricultural production in Nicaragua declined by 3.3 percent in 1998.