The increase to the minimum wage for 2026 was announced this last Thursday March 5th 2026 by Johana Vanessa Flores Jiménez, the Minister of Labor. The new pay scale will be in effect from March 1st 2026 and will be paid retroactively for all hours worked from that date.
Previous 5 Years Minimum Wage Increase;
2025 4%
2024 10.1%
2023 10%
2022 7%
2021 3%
Some facts about the Minimum Wage in Nicaragua
The Minimum Wage is regulated by the Labor Code of the Republic of Nicaragua (Law 185) and the Minimum Wage Law (Law 625).
A salary in Nicaragua can never be lower than the legal minimum wage.
There are ten different minimum wage rates depending on the economic activity of the particular sector.
Nine of those sectors are reviewed by the Minimum Wage Commission. They are:
Agriculture
Fishing
Mining and Quarries
Manufacturing Industry
Micro and small craft industry and designated national tourism
Electricity, Gas and water, commerce, restaurant and hotels, transportation, storage and communications
Construction, financial and insurance establishments
Community, social and personal services
Central and municipal government
The tenth sector is the Zona Franca (Tax Free Zones). Their employees have a union negotiated 5 year minimum wage contract (currently in place since 2023) and were awarded an increase of 6.7% for 2026.
The minimum wage calculation is based on the Labor Code Standard Work Week to calculate the monthly rate.
The “Standard Work Week” is 8 hours a day from Monday to Saturday inclusive for a total of 48 hours (for hours worked between 6am and 8pm).
Night workers (those working 7 hours per day anytime between 8pm and 6am the next day) are limited to 42 hours per week.
Those working “Mixed Hours” means mixed days and night hours for a maximum of 7.5 hours per day or 45 hours weekly.
A properly registered employee will cost an employer a minimum of an additional 48.5% of their total salary on various loadings such as Vacation pay, Liquidation, Aguinaldo, INSS, (minimum 21.50 %) and INATEC.
