| Economy - overview | Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for roughly 90% of export earnings, more than 50% of the federal budget revenues, and around 30% of GDP. Tax collection - Venezuela's primary source of non-oil revenue - is expected to surpass $23 billion in 2006, exceeding the yearend collection goal by more than 20%. A nationwide strike between December 2002 and February 2003 had far-reaching economic consequences - real GDP declined by around 9% in 2002 and 8% in 2003 - but economic output since then has recovered strongly. Fueled by higher oil prices, record government spending helped to boost GDP growth in 2004 and 2005 to approximately 18% and 11%, respectively. Economic growth in 2006 reached about 9%. This spending, combined with recent minimum wage hikes and improved access to domestic credit, has fueled a consumption boom - car sales in 2006 increased by around 70% - but has come at the cost of higher inflation. Despite government attempts to withdraw liquidity from the economy, Venezuela's money supply set a record in June 2006, approximately 70% higher than the previous year. Imports have also jumped significantly. |
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| GDP | 1.2% (2005 est.) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 10.3% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 3.7%
industry: 41%
services: 55.3% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 37.9% (end 2005 est.) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 0.8%
highest 10%: 36.5% (1998) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 49.1 (1998) |
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| Labor force | 12.5 million (November 2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 13%
industry: 23%
services: 64% (1997 est.) |
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| Unemployment rate | 8.9% (October 2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $52.24 billion
expenditures: $52.9 billion; including capital expenditures of $2.6 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | petroleum, construction materials, food processing, textiles; iron ore mining, steel, aluminum; motor vehicle assembly |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 7% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 93.03 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 31.7%
hydro: 68.3%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 86.52 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 0 kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 3.081 million bbl/day (2005 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 560,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | 2.1 million bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - imports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 75.27 billion bbl (2006 est.) |
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| Agriculture - products | corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish |
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| Exports | $69.23 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, steel, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures |
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| Exports - partners | US 50.9%, Netherlands Antilles 7.2%, Canada 2.4% (2005) |
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| Imports | $28.81 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials |
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| Imports - partners | US 31.6%, Colombia 11%, Brazil 9.1%, Mexico 6.9% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $35.63 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $74 million (2000) |
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| Currency code | VEB |
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| Exchange rates | bolivares per US dollar - 2,147 (2006), 2,089.8 (2005), 1,891.3 (2004), 1,607 (2003), 1,161 (2002) |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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