# Economy of Venezuela
**Venezuela's economy** is a petroleum-dependent, partially dollarized economy that, after the deepest recorded peacetime contraction of a modern state, has been recovering unevenly since 2021: it grew 3% in 2022, 4% in 2023, and 5.3% in 2024, after shrinking by nearly 80% between 2013 and 2021[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf). By 2024 it represented an estimated 35% of its 2012 size[2](https://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/OIES-PPT-Rewiring-Venezuelan-Crude-Oil-12Jan25.pdf). GDP per capita was estimated at 3,100 USD in 2025, down from 4,510 USD in 2024[3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy), and total GDP has shrunk around 80% in dollar terms since 2012, to an estimated 83 billion USD in 2025, roughly the size of Uruguay's economy[4](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/latin-america-predicted-to-post-modest-growth-amid-upheaval-in-venezuela). In early 2026 the IMF described the situation as "quite fragile," with triple-digit inflation and rapid currency depreciation[5](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/imf-says-venezuelas-economic-humanitarian-situation-is-quite-fragile-2026-02-19/), following the US capture of former President Nicolás Maduro in January and the installation of acting President Delcy Rodríguez[6](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/25/economy/venezuela-economy-analysis-intl-hnk).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Oil reserves vs output | Largest proven reserves in the world, about 17% of global reserves; production peaked at 3.5 million bpd in the 1970s and stood near 1 to 1.2 million bpd in 2025[3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy) • [7](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/factbox-venezuela-s-oil-wealth-reserves-output-and-exports/3778476) |
| Collapse magnitude | GDP shrank roughly three-quarters between 2014 and 2021; estimates range from over 70% to 86% depending on period and source[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis) • [9](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/venezuela/venezuelas-long-road-recovery) • [10](https://www.hwr-berlin.de/fileadmin/portal/Dokumente/Prof-Seiten/Metzger/Heinrich__2022_.pdf) |
| Peak hyperinflation | Just over 130,000% in 2018 (or 65,370% by some measures); three currency redenominations in 2008, 2018, and 2021[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis) • [3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy) • [11](https://bti-project.org/fileadmin/api/content/en/downloads/reports/country_report_2026_VEN.pdf) |
| Migration | About 8 million people, 25% of the population, have left since 2014[12](https://www.imf.org/en/-/media/files/publications/reo/whd/2025/october/english/text.pdf) |
| Minimum wage | 130 bolívares per month, unchanged since 2022; valued at about USD 1.4 by one estimate and USD 0.40 by another, with bonuses raising effective pay to roughly USD 150 to 160 per month[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf) • [13](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-economy-trump-4f363a76216a20c64e42704a2ef4ef31) • [14](https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-18/venezuela-grapples-with-economic-collapse.html) |
| Fiscal dependence | Oil exports financed almost two-thirds of the government budget in recent years; 58% estimated for 2024[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis) |
| Debt | Estimated debt burden of 150 billion USD or higher[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis) |
## From oil boom to collapse: a short history
**The twentieth-century peak.** By 1970 Venezuela had become the richest country in Latin America and one of the twenty richest in the world, ahead of Greece, Israel, and Spain[15](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/venezuela-chavez-anatomy-economic-collapse). The 1973 OPEC embargo quadrupled oil prices and added 10 billion USD to state coffers over two years[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis). Oil averaged around 90% of all exports and almost 60% of government revenues between 1960 and 2016[16](https://mafhola.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/Venezuela_Restuccia.pdf), a dependence that shaped everything that followed.
**The long pre-Chávez decline.** Between 1978 and 2001 non-oil GDP fell by almost 19% and oil GDP by 65%; per worker GDP declined 35.6% over those twenty-three years[15](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/venezuela-chavez-anatomy-economic-collapse). In national accounts data the contraction begins in 1977, a level of income the country has yet to recover; the 2012 to 2020 period alone accounts for 92% of the total collapse even in those data[17](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11127-025-01290-5). From 1978 to 1989 average annual growth was −2.6%, and from 1990 to 2016 it was −0.2%[16](https://mafhola.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/Venezuela_Restuccia.pdf).
**Chávez-era restructuring.** In 1976 President Carlos Andrés Pérez nationalized the industry, creating PDVSA as a company run with minimal government regulation and a required 60% equity stake in joint ventures[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis). The 2001 hydrocarbons law subordinated PDVSA to the oil ministry and was a main trigger of the 2002 to 2003 oil strike, after which production decreased continuously from 2006[18](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420724004112). Chávez fired thousands of experienced PDVSA workers who had joined the strike, gutting the company of technical expertise; in 2007 he asserted greater state control, prompting several major foreign oil companies to leave and many skilled workers and executives to flee[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis) • [19](https://apnews.com/projects/venezuela-oil-exports-explainer/). ExxonMobil and [ConocoPhillips](https://www.edgepedia.org/conocophillips) left after the government forcibly renegotiated contracts around 2007, costing them billions of dollars; Chevron is the only US oil company still operating[20](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-5668491/venezuela-oil-global-markets). Analysts estimate as much as 100 billion USD was embezzled between 1972 and 1997[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis).
## How the collapse happened
**The trigger and the mechanics.** The oil price plunge from more than 100 USD per barrel in 2014 to under 30 USD in early 2016 sent the country into an economic and political spiral[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis). Price and currency controls, coupled with massive inorganic money printing used to finance the national oil company, produced hyperinflation and scarcity; US and European sanctions inhibited access to foreign financing from 2017 and generally barred access to the US oil market from 2019 onward[21](https://academic.oup.com/sp/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/sp/jxaf053/65660650/jxaf053.pdf). A peer-reviewed assessment attributes the breakdown to institutional changes that politicized the oil industry and replaced market mechanisms with central planning, rather than to sanctions or oil prices alone, condemning 96% of the population to poverty during the collapse[22](https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecaffa/v42y2022i2p344-360.html).
**How large was the contraction?** Credible estimates differ with the period chosen. GDP shrank by roughly three-quarters between 2014 and 2021[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis); over 70% between 2012 and 2020, the largest contraction ever documented in a country not at war[9](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/venezuela/venezuelas-long-road-recovery); more than 80% during the years of strict economic controls[14](https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-18/venezuela-grapples-with-economic-collapse.html); and 86% from the December 2013 peak to the beginning of 2020[10](https://www.hwr-berlin.de/fileadmin/portal/Dokumente/Prof-Seiten/Metzger/Heinrich__2022_.pdf). Britannica puts the 2014 to 2019 decline at some 75%, citing mismanagement, underinvestment in the oil industry, heavy borrowing, and sanctions[23](https://www.britannica.com/place/Venezuela/Economy).
**The human side.** About 8 million people, 25% of the population, have left since 2014[12](https://www.imf.org/en/-/media/files/publications/reo/whd/2025/october/english/text.pdf). Poverty peaked in 2020 with over 50% of households in extreme poverty and 90% in poverty per the UCAB quality-of-life survey; in 2020 the UN reported 74% of households engaged in food-related coping strategies such as reducing the variety and quality of food they eat[21](https://academic.oup.com/sp/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/sp/jxaf053/65660650/jxaf053.pdf).
## Oil and PDVSA
**The production record.** Production rose continuously from the mid-1980s until 1998, the year Chávez was elected[18](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420724004112), and Venezuela consistently produced more than 3 million bpd through the late 1990s and early 2000s[7](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/factbox-venezuela-s-oil-wealth-reserves-output-and-exports/3778476). It then fell from around 2.5 million bpd in 2016 to less than 700,000 bpd in 2021, after 2017 US sanctions barred PDVSA from financial markets and imposed secondary sanctions, driving a "dark fleet" of tankers[24](https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/analyses/venezuelas-oil-evolution-scenarios-and-international-repercussions/). Secondary-source estimates document a collapse to 512,000 barrels per day, driven by acute underinvestment, institutional mismanagement, and international sanctions[25](https://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/SP37-Venezuelas-Oil-and-Gas-Industry.pdf). Crude production fell below 1 million bpd in March 2019 and rose from a September 2020 low[26](https://congress.gov/crs_external_products/IN/PDF/IN12637/IN12637.2.pdf).
**Sanctions versus mismanagement.** The timing matters: financial sanctions starting in August 2017 may have worsened performance but cannot explain the earlier collapse, since the production trend turned negative in 1999 and declined from the mid-2000s; the collapse was not caused by contraction of the global economy or by declining reserves[18](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420724004112). Inside the joint ventures, staff almost quadrupled from 10,515 to 37,162 people between 2009 and 2016 while output grew only 47%, and PDVSA often hired personnel without partners' approval, bloating payrolls and raising costs[27](https://www.bakerinstitute.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/import/fdi-monaldi-venezuela%5FuSQ8FHh.pdf). Between 2015 and 2025 exports dropped by almost two-thirds as infrastructure decayed and sanctions restricted trade and financing[19](https://apnews.com/projects/venezuela-oil-exports-explainer/).
**Who controls and earns now.** Venezuelan law requires PDVSA to hold at least 51% equity in joint ventures with foreign capital, limiting the operational control of international partners[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf). After the May 2025 revocation of US licenses, PDVSA redirected exports to informal Asian markets, reaching 844,000 bpd in June 2025, sold at deep discounts predominantly to China[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf). Income from foreign currency sales to the central bank totaled 3,803 million USD in the first eleven months of 2025[28](https://mppp.gob.ve/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/VENEZUELA_EN_CIFRAS_ENERO_2026.pdf).
## Hyperinflation and dollarization
**From chronic inflation to hyperinflation.** Venezuela has had double-digit inflation since the end of the 1970s; from 1960 to 1986 inflation was almost always below 30%, but since 1987 it has almost always been above 30%, with hyperinflation financed by seigniorage from government deficits in the absence of external credit[16](https://mafhola.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/Venezuela_Restuccia.pdf). The dynamic accelerated after 2013: end-of-period CPI inflation reached 720.0% in 2016 after 180.9% in 2015, driven by a more than 50% fall in oil prices[29](https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/v_2017_11_10_kulesza.pdf). Annual hyperinflation peaked at just over 130,000% in 2018 (65,370% by some measures)[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis) • [3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy), and the government itself stated in March 2018 that inflation had exceeded 6,000% between February 2017 and February 2018[30](https://www.eia.gov/international/content/analysis/countries_long/Venezuela/background.htm).
**Currency reforms.** The bolívar was redenominated three times: the 2008 "Bolívar Fuerte" at 1:1,000, the 2018 "Bolívar Soberano" at 1:100,000, and the 2021 "New Monetary Expression" at 1:1,000,000; in 2021 the country emerged from the 2016 to 2020 hyperinflation[11](https://bti-project.org/fileadmin/api/content/en/downloads/reports/country_report_2026_VEN.pdf). Inflation then fell for six years, to 47% at end-2024 per the IMF, though the Observatorio Venezolano de Finanzas estimated 85% and Cedice Libertad 73% for that year on differing methodologies[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf).
**Dollarization.** Exchange controls since 2003 created a growing parallel market, and since 2012 changes in the parallel dollar rate became more significant than official rate changes in fueling inflation; the dollar took over the store-of-value function, though full rejection of the bolívar was not observed[29](https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/v_2017_11_10_kulesza.pdf). Inflation as high as 65,000% produced scarcity of food and medicine, and the collapse of the currency, forcing residents to use US dollars or large stacks of cash[31](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/08/business/venezuela-economic-problems-beyond-oil); by 2019 the bolívar had been rendered useless by the majority of residents, and ad hoc dollarization was implemented to curb hyperinflation[32](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/25166042231186352?icid=int.sj-abstract.citing-articles.1) • [21](https://academic.oup.com/sp/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/sp/jxaf053/65660650/jxaf053.pdf). By end-2024 the official exchange rate was 52 Bs/USD against a parallel rate of 66 Bs/USD, a 26% gap; by July 2025 the rates were 120 and 152 Bs/USD, a 27% gap[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf).
## By the numbers
- **Oil production:** about 1 million bpd in 2025 per the IMF[12](https://www.imf.org/en/-/media/files/publications/reo/whd/2025/october/english/text.pdf); roughly 1.1 million bpd per EUAA[3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy) and 1 to 1.2 million bpd per Anadolu[7](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/factbox-venezuela-s-oil-wealth-reserves-output-and-exports/3778476).
- **Inflation, 2025:** the IMF's October 2025 outlook projected about 549%, reversing a six-year downward trend, and the bolívar lost roughly 80% of its value in 2025[3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy); SECO cites an IMF projection of 254%[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf); AP cites the IMF at 682%, the highest of any country in its data[13](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-economy-trump-4f363a76216a20c64e42704a2ef4ef31); independent figures put 2025 inflation at 269.9% while BCV figures indicate 475%[3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy).
- **Poverty:** 86% in 2024 per the Observatorio Venezolano de Finanzas[3](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy); 80% per the Venezuelan Academy of Economic Sciences[14](https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-18/venezuela-grapples-with-economic-collapse.html); 50% of residents in a November 2022 survey, down from 65% the year before[8](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis).
- **Pay:** many public sector workers survive on roughly 160 USD per month, while the average private sector employee earned about 237 USD in the prior year[13](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-economy-trump-4f363a76216a20c64e42704a2ef4ef31); a public high school teacher earns 160 USD a month, mostly from an "economic war bonus" and food subsidy[33](https://www.npr.org/2026/02/17/nx-s1-5713548/venezuela-oil-economy).
- **Formal employment:** rose from 42% in 2023 to 49% in 2024[1](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf).
## How it compares with Colombia, Brazil, and the region
World Bank data puts Venezuela's 2025 GDP at about 99.66 billion USD, against Colombia's 457.41 billion USD in the same year[34](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=VE). [Goldman Sachs](https://www.edgepedia.org/goldman-sachs) estimates Venezuela's economy is roughly the size of Uruguay's and less than a quarter the size of Chile's, with weak trade and financial linkages to other Latin American economies[4](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/latin-america-predicted-to-post-modest-growth-amid-upheaval-in-venezuela). On inflation the gap is extreme: Argentina's rate was expected to moderate to 23% from 32%, against Venezuelan rates in the hundreds of percent[4](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/latin-america-predicted-to-post-modest-growth-amid-upheaval-in-venezuela).
## References
1. [SECO Country Report Venezuela 2025](https://www.seco.admin.ch/dam/seco/en/dokumente/Aussenwirtschaft/Wirtschaftsbeziehungen/L%C3%A4nderinformationen/Lateinamerika/wirtschaftsbericht_venezuela.pdf.download.pdf/Wirtschaftsbericht%20_Venezuela_2025%20extern.pdf)
2. [Rewiring Venezuelan Crude Oil (OIES, January 2025)](https://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/OIES-PPT-Rewiring-Venezuelan-Crude-Oil-12Jan25.pdf)
3. [EUAA — Venezuela Country Focus: Economy](https://www.euaa.europa.eu/venezuela-country-focus/12-economy)
4. [Goldman Sachs — Latin America Is Predicted to Post Modest Growth amid Upheaval in Venezuela](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/latin-america-predicted-to-post-modest-growth-amid-upheaval-in-venezuela)
5. [Reuters — IMF says Venezuela's economic, humanitarian situation is 'quite fragile' (19 February 2026)](https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/imf-says-venezuelas-economic-humanitarian-situation-is-quite-fragile-2026-02-19/)
6. [CNN Business — The deadly quakes are a gut punch to a Venezuelan economy already on its knees](https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/25/economy/venezuela-economy-analysis-intl-hnk)
7. [Anadolu Agency — FACTBOX: Venezuela's oil wealth](https://www.aa.com.tr/en/americas/factbox-venezuela-s-oil-wealth-reserves-output-and-exports/3778476)
8. [Council on Foreign Relations — Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate](https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/venezuela-crisis)
9. [Foreign Affairs — Venezuela's Long Road to Recovery](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/venezuela/venezuelas-long-road-recovery)
10. [Heinrich (2022) — The curse of Venezuela's oil, Berlin School of Economics and Law](https://www.hwr-berlin.de/fileadmin/portal/Dokumente/Prof-Seiten/Metzger/Heinrich__2022_.pdf)
11. [BTI 2026 Country Report Venezuela](https://bti-project.org/fileadmin/api/content/en/downloads/reports/country_report_2026_VEN.pdf)
12. [IMF October 2025 Regional Economic Outlook: Western Hemisphere](https://www.imf.org/en/-/media/files/publications/reo/whd/2025/october/english/text.pdf)
13. [AP News — Venezuelans struggle with crumbling economy](https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-economy-trump-4f363a76216a20c64e42704a2ef4ef31)
14. [El País — Venezuela grapples with economic collapse](https://english.elpais.com/international/2025-01-18/venezuela-grapples-with-economic-collapse.html)
15. [Hausmann & Rodríguez (eds.) — Venezuela Before Chávez: Anatomy of an Economic Collapse, Harvard Kennedy School](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/venezuela-chavez-anatomy-economic-collapse)
16. [Restuccia — The Monetary and Fiscal History of Venezuela, 1960–2016](https://mafhola.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/Venezuela_Restuccia.pdf)
17. [Political growth collapses, Public Choice (2025)](https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11127-025-01290-5)
18. [A tale of oil production collapse, Energy Policy (2024)](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420724004112)
19. [AP News — Venezuela has the world's largest oil reserves. Here's why they're hard to use](https://apnews.com/projects/venezuela-oil-exports-explainer/)
20. [NPR — The world has too much oil. Will companies want Venezuela's?](https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-5668491/venezuela-oil-global-markets)
21. [Embodying the Cost of a Predatory State, Social Politics (OUP)](https://academic.oup.com/sp/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.1093/sp/jxaf053/65660650/jxaf053.pdf)
22. [Venezuela's collapse: Exogenous shock or institutional design? Economics of Transition and Institutional Change (2022)](https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecaffa/v42y2022i2p344-360.html)
23. [Britannica — Venezuela: Economy](https://www.britannica.com/place/Venezuela/Economy)
24. [Real Instituto Elcano — Venezuela's oil: evolution, scenarios and international repercussions](https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/analyses/venezuelas-oil-evolution-scenarios-and-international-repercussions/)
25. [Oxford Institute for Energy Studies — Venezuela's Oil and Gas Industry](https://www.oxfordenergy.org/wpcms/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/SP37-Venezuelas-Oil-and-Gas-Industry.pdf)
26. [Congressional Research Service — Venezuela Oil Sector](https://congress.gov/crs_external_products/IN/PDF/IN12637/IN12637.2.pdf)
27. [Baker Institute — The Collapse of the Venezuelan Oil Industry](https://www.bakerinstitute.org/sites/default/files/2020-02/import/fdi-monaldi-venezuela%5FuSQ8FHh.pdf)
28. [Ministerio del Poder Popular de Planificación — Venezuela en CIFRAS, Enero 2026](https://mppp.gob.ve/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/VENEZUELA_EN_CIFRAS_ENERO_2026.pdf)
29. [Kulesza — Inflation and hyperinflation in Venezuela (1970s–2016), Hans-Böckler-Stiftung](https://www.boeckler.de/pdf/v_2017_11_10_kulesza.pdf)
30. [US EIA — Background Reference: Venezuela](https://www.eia.gov/international/content/analysis/countries_long/Venezuela/background.htm)
31. [CNN Business — Venezuela's economy will be a mess for whoever runs it next](https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/08/business/venezuela-economic-problems-beyond-oil)
32. [Venezuela: Escaping the Resource Curse, SAGE (2023)](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/25166042231186352?icid=int.sj-abstract.citing-articles.1)
33. [NPR — In Venezuela oil trickles back, but people still struggle to eat](https://www.npr.org/2026/02/17/nx-s1-5713548/venezuela-oil-economy)
34. [World Bank Data — GDP (current US$), Venezuela, RB](https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=VE)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Economics › Economies and economic history by place › National and regional economies › Economies of South America*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license