blem, however, with roughly
half the country's work force unemployed or underemployed.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $7.7 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 5.5% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,800 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 34%
industry: 21%
services: 45% (1995)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 11% (1996)

Labor force:
total : 1.086 million
by occupation: services 43%, agriculture 44%, industry 13% (1986)

Unemployment rate: 16%; underemployment 36% (1996 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $389 million
expenditures: $551 million, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1996 est.)

Industries: food processing, chemicals, metal products, textiles,
clothing, petroleum refining and distribution, beverages, footwear

Industrial production growth rate: 1.4% (1994 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 417,700 kW (1995)

Electricity - production: 1.713 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 279 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: coffee, bananas, sugarcane, cotton, rice,
corn, cassava (tapioca), citrus, beans; beef, veal, pork, poultry,
dairy products

Exports:
total value: $607 million (f.o.b., 1996)
commodities: meat, coffee, cotton, sugar, seafood, gold, bananas
partners: US, Central America, Canada, Germany

Imports:
total value : $1.188 billion (c.i.f., 1996)
commodities: consumer goods, machinery and equipment, petroleum
products
partners: Central America, US, Venezuela, Japan

Debt - external: $6 billion (1996 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $NA

Currency: 1 gold cordoba (C$) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: gold cordobas (C$) per US$1 - 8.63 (September 1996),
7.55 (1995), 6.72 (1994), 5.62 (1993), 5.00 (1992)

Fiscal year: calendar year

@Nicaragua:Communications

Telephones: 66,810 (1993 est.)

Telephone system: low-capacity microwave radio relay and wire system
being expanded; connected to Central American Microwave System
domestic : wire and microwave radio relay
international: satellite earth stations - 1 Intersputnik (Atlantic
Ocean Region) and 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations: AM 45, FM 0, shortwave 3

Radios: 1.037 million (1992 est.)

Television broadcast stations: 7 (1994 est.)

Televisions: 260,000 (1992 est.)

@Nicaragua:Transportation

Railways:
total: 0 km
narrow gauge: 0 km 1.067-m gauge; note - part of the previous 376 km
system was closed and disman