Nicaragua
Last updated August 4, 2026
Composite GEFRI Score
Limited relative strength in Infrastructure, with deep gaps in Governance
Nicaragua shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (23rd percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.
- Global percentile
- 23rd
- Global rank
- #137
- Regional rank
- #26
- Viewing data for
Country profile
Nicaragua faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in GEFRI Composite (39, 23rd percentile), Innovation (28, 16th percentile), School Access and Gender Parity (24, 25th percentile) and Governance (20, 10th percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.
Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Limited tertiary enrollment narrows future talent pipelines and innovation capacity.
Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Policy execution and regulatory capacity remain weak, leaving reforms fragmented and hard to sustain. Gender parity across secondary pathways reflects sustained commitment to equitable participation.
Infrastructure presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning.
Some indicators are imputed, so the profile should be read with moderate caution.
Key insights
Falls below many peers at the 23rd percentile.
Places 137th worldwide.
Holds a regional position of 26th within Latin America & Caribbean.
Scores range from Infrastructure (63.5) to Governance (20.3), reflecting variation across dimensions.
Trails regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.
Regional peers: Latin America & Caribbean
Composite GEFRI Score