Einar H. Dyvik
Research expert covering Nordics and global data for society, economy, and politics
Venezuela - statistics & facts
Venezuela dominated international headlines at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026. After the U.S. government declared President Nicolás Maduro as a leader of an international drug trafficking terrorist organization, attacked numerous boats in the Caribbean allegedly involved in drug trafficking, and implemented a blockade against oil tankers leaving Venezuela, Maduro was captured by U.S. military in a raid on the capital Caracas in early 2026. Immediately after the capture of Maduro, Trump claimed that the U.S. would take back oil that Venezuela had stolen from them, signaling that the operation was more about regime change and access to Venezuela’s oil reserves than about stopping drug smuggling.
Oil dependency and economic volatility
Venezuela holds the world’s largest crude oil reserves, yet production has declined dramatically, going from 2.86 million barrels per day in 2015 to 850,000 in 2023. Oil exports remain the cornerstone of Venezuela’s economy, but operational inefficiencies, mismanagement, corruption, and international sanctions have constrained output.
Such constraints have impacted the country’s trade balance. While Venezuela maintained a trade surplus for most of the past decade, largely due to oil exports, current estimations indicate a deficit since 2020. Moreover, China has displaced the United States as the main import partner, as the relationship with the latter deteriorated under the past two decades. Adding the trade restrictions to the hyperinflation and the ongoing population exodus, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Venezuela has fallen to values similar to the beginning of the 21st century.
Socialism of the 21st century
Venezuela’s relations with the U.S. have been strained since Hugo Chávez was elected president in 1999. Chávez implemented a range of socialist reforms to reduce poverty and broaden access to healthcare and education, nationalized the country’s oil industry, a move which angered the Americans, and sought ties with Cuba and other socialist governments in Latin America. His election sparked the start of the so-called pink tide in Latin America, and socialists around the world had high hopes that his election could mark the start of a new form of socialism of the 21st century. Chávez was able to reduce poverty and broaden access to education and healthcare, partly owed to high oil prices at the time, but his rule was increasingly marked by crackdowns against political opponents, democratic backsliding, and corruption. When the controversial president died of cancer in 2013 and was succeeded by Nicolás Maduro, most of the optimism that marked his election had vaporized.
Democratic and economic decline under Maduro
During Maduro’s rule, the economic problems that had started during the last years of Chávez’ rule worsened. Venezuela has faced chronic inflation and in recent years also hyperinflation. The mismanaged oil industry is the country’s only significant source of income and economic sanctions have deepened the crisis. Meanwhile, millions have fled the country, mostly to neighboring countries, poverty rates have risen dramatically, and violence has spiraled. Today, Venezuela ranks among one of the world’s most miserable countries to live in.
The democratic deterioration also worsened under Maduro. Several political opponents have been jailed. All three presidential elections held during his rule were disputed, the first one in 2013, the second in 2018, and the last in 2024. Before the 2024 election, leading opposition candidate MarÃa Corina Machado was banned from running by the national government, a move that sparked national and international outcry. After the election, the government-affiliated national electoral council declared Maduro as the winner but failed to provide results proving this, and the result was widely rejected internationally. Machado later won the 2025 Nobel Peace Price for her fight for democracy. At the time of writing, the future is uncertain for the crises-ridden country.
