Is Venezuela a Rich Or Poor Country? Resource-Rich but Poverty-Stricken

Venezuela, despite immense natural wealth, is mired in economic crisis. It has about 28.4 million people (2024) and a GDP of roughly $119.8 billion (around $4,200 per person). However, this “richest petrostate” façade masks a collapsed economy and widespread hardship. Key statistics illustrate the paradox of wealth vs. poverty in Venezuela:

• Population (2024): ~28.4 million

• GDP (2024): $119.8 billion

• GDP per capita (2024): $4,217

• Proven oil reserves (2023): ~303 billion barrels (largest in world)

• Oil production (2023): <1.0 million barrels per day (<1% of world)

• Poverty (2024): ~82% of people (53% in extreme poverty)

• Income inequality (Gini): ~0.60 (very high)

Natural Resources

Venezuela is extraordinarily resource-rich, especially in oil. It holds an estimated 303 billion barrels of proven crude reserves (about 17% of the global total) – far more than Saudi Arabia. An Al Jazeera chart shows Venezuela’s reserves dwarf those of other countries (e.g. USA, Russia)

Yet actual production and exports are tiny by comparison. Today Venezuela produces under 1 million barrels per day of oil, barely one-third of its 1990s output (~3.5 million bpd). In 2023 oil exports were only about $4.05 billion – peanuts next to other major producers. Much of Venezuela’s oil lies in the Orinoco Belt as extra-heavy crude, which is costly and technically challenging to extract. In short, Venezuela’s vast “black gold” largely sits untapped due to poor investment, sanctions, and technical hurdles.

Besides oil, Venezuela also has natural gas, minerals (gold, bauxite, iron) and fertile land, but these have brought far less wealth. The oil sector still dominates the economy – roughly 58% of government revenue comes from oil (via PDVSA). Other industries (steel, petrochemicals, mining) contracted sharply over years of mismanagement. In theory, these resources could have made Venezuela very rich, but in practice the wealth was often siphoned off by corruption and excessive spending.

Economic Collapse and GDP Trends

For much of the 20th century Venezuela was Latin America’s richest country thanks to oil revenues. However, decades of boom-and-bust and policy errors reversed that. From 2014 to 2024 GDP plummeted over 70%. The economy shrank year after year under oil-price crashes (2014‑2016) and hyperinflation (2017‑2019). By 2019 Venezuela’s real GDP was a fraction of its 2013 size.

Recently the economy has stabilized somewhat. Easing of sanctions and partial dollarization have spurred a rebound: the IMF estimated 5% GDP growth in 2023 and the government forecast 8% growth in 2024. Nevertheless, output remains far below its former peak. As of 2024 the World Bank reports GDP around $119.8 billion – comparable to a small Latin American economy, despite Venezuela’s enormous resource base. In fact, Venezuela’s economy now ranks among the smallest in Latin America (per [World Bank data][55]) despite having the region’s largest oil reserves.

Inflation and Financial Crisis

Venezuela has suffered one of the worst inflation crises in modern history. After 2014 the government printed money to cover deficits, triggering hyperinflation. Annual inflation reached astronomical levels (officially 80,000% by end-2018, according to various estimates). While official data are unreliable, independent sources consistently described the late-2010s as a period of hyperinflation and currency collapse. By 2019 even street vendors priced goods hourly. In recent years inflation has moderated but remains extremely high. For example, one recent estimate puts inflation at ~180% for 2025. This means prices still rise nearly 1.5–2x per year, eroding incomes and living standards.

The monetary crisis has wrecked public finances and savings. The bolívar has lost most of its value (now largely abandoned in favor of the US dollar). Wages and pensions – once set in bolívares – are virtually worthless. Banks and credit have all but collapsed, and credit was frozen at near 50% of GDP. In sum, decades of fiscal mismanagement and money-printing transformed Venezuela from a stable oil economy into one of runaway inflation and severe deprivation.

Poverty and Inequality

The human cost of Venezuela’s economic collapse has been catastrophic. According to a UN special rapporteur in early 2024, nearly 82% of Venezuelans live in poverty (incomes insufficient to buy basic needs), and 53% live in extreme poverty (unable to afford basic food). Independent analyses agree on similarly grim figures – roughly 80% in poverty and over 50% extremely poor. Child malnutrition rates have soared, and shortages of food, medicine and electricity are common. As one UN expert put it, hunger and malnutrition have “led to mass migration” from the country.

Income inequality is also very high. One recent study found Venezuela’s Gini coefficient around 0.603, the highest on record for the country (for comparison, most Latin American countries have Gini in the 0.4–0.5 range). This means the top 10% of Venezuelans hold a very large share of whatever wealth and income exists, while the poorest half of the population has only a small share. In practice, even though oil wealth generated billions of dollars, those funds were largely captured by political elites and spent on politically-connected projects. Ordinary Venezuelans – after years of economic turmoil – end up with meager incomes. By 2024 most people live on just a few dollars per day, paying steep prices for basic goods.

Resource Wealth vs. Population Welfare

Venezuela’s story is a stark example of the “resource curse.” It has one of the world’s richest resource endowments, yet its people are among the poorest in the Americas. As the Council on Foreign Relations notes, Venezuela is “home to the world’s largest oil reserves” but decades of poor governance have driven it from being “one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries” to economic ruin. In effect, enormous oil revenues have not translated into widespread prosperity, but instead have fueled corruption, rent-seeking and fiscal profligacy.

The disparity between resource wealth and social welfare is extreme. Despite being among the world’s top holders of oil, Venezuela’s per-capita income is now similar to much poorer neighbors. A recent [Al Jazeera report] calculated that Venezuela’s GDP (~$108–120 billion) is the smallest in Latin America, even though it sits on colossal natural wealth. This paradox reflects years of missed opportunities: inflated government budgets during oil booms and brutal austerity and shortages during busts. In short, Venezuela’s “wealth” belongs on paper or in foreign bank accounts; on the ground most families live in poverty.

Venezuela is rich in natural resources but poor in real living standards. Its massive oil reserves and historic wealth provided a potential path to prosperity, but mismanagement, corruption, and external shocks have led to economic collapse. By 2024, the great majority of Venezuelans are impoverished, inflation is rampant, and inequality is extreme, even as the country continues to sit on vast oil and mineral wealth.