Venezuela, 51.9% of Population Lives in Extreme Poverty
Presidential elections will be held on July 28, and Nicolás Maduro will run for a third term
As Nicolas Maduro prepares his candidacy for a third term, there is disappointing data on the situation of the majority of Venezuela’s population: 51.9% of residents live in extreme poverty.
This is explained in the report Encuesta de Condiciones de Vida 2023 (Overview of Living Conditions – ENCOVI), compiled by professors from various Venezuelan universities, which also highlights the fact that the country continues to be one of the most unequal on the continent, with the poorest people earning 30-35 times less than those with the highest incomes. The ENCOVI project was created to make up for the lack of official statistics related to social reality in Venezuela.
The poverty rate in 2023 was 51.9% compared to 50.2% in 2022, and as many as 82.8% of Venezuelan families are in monetary poverty, meaning they don’t have enough money to access the basic basket.
Out-of-control inflation is contributing to this phenomenon: in 2023, the inflation rate was 189.9%, according to the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV). For the government, however, the current situation can essentially be explained by US sanctions. After the darkest years, when 7 million Venezuelans left the country, the economy is now improving slightly: according to the Venezuelan government, Caracas will have “the highest growth in Latin America and the Caribbean” with a forecast of 8% growth for 2024. But despite this, the number of people living in poverty has not decreased.
Returning to the elections to be held on July 28, the announcement of Maduro’s re-nomination was set “by the base of the party, whereas 4,240,032 people participated in the vote,” as written on social network X by the deputy chairman of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello.