From 2017 to 2021, the share of households living under the poverty line in Venezuela has been surpassing 90 percent. In addition, more than six out of every ten households (67.97 percent) lived in extreme poverty in 2021. The overall household poverty rate in Venezuela has registered a steady growth from 2014 to 2019, after having remained relatively stable, below 40 percent, since 2005. Although poverty is widespread among the population as a whole, some groups are more vulnerable than others. That is the case of younger generations and particularly children: 98.03 percent of Venezuelans aged 15 or younger lived in poverty in 2021. An economy in disarray Venezuela, the country with the largest oil reserves in the world and whose economy has been largely dependent on oil revenues for decades, was once one of the most prosperous countries in Latin America. Today, hyperinflation and an astronomic public debt are only some of the many pressing concerns that affect the domestic economy. The socio-economic consequences of the crisis As a result of the economic recession, more than half of the population in every state in Venezuela lives in extreme poverty. This issue is particularly noteworthy in the states of Amazonas, Monagas, and Falcón, where the extreme poverty rate hovers over 80 percent. Such alarming levels of poverty, together with persistent food shortages, provoked a rapid increase in undernourishment, which was estimated at 17.9 percent between 2020 and 2022. The combination of humanitarian crisis, political turmoil and economic havoc led to the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis. As of 2020, more than five million Venezuelans had fled their home country, with neighboring Colombia being the main country of destination.

In Venezuela, as of 2024, the food insecurity index has been highest among the population who expressed concerns about running out of food, registering at **** percent. This group was followed by those who reported compromising their diet by eating less healthy food and experiencing variations in their food consumption.

As of 2023, the region's average share of the indigenous population living under the poverty line was 42.3 percent. The most recent data for Colombia positions the country with 63.5 percent of the population, the highest in Latin America.

The prevalence of undernourishment in Venezuela reached 17.6 percent in the three-year period between 2021 and 2023. The figure decreased 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous period, when 17.9 percent of Venezuelans faced nourishment difficulties.

In 2024, the unemployment rate in Venezuela amounted to 5.48 percent. Between 1991 and 2024, the figure dropped by 3.97 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

In the timeframe presented, there has been a general uptick in the average monthly salary for Venezuelan employees, peaking at ******* USD in July 2024.