Venezuela is rich in national resources especially in oil reserves. The main exports include petroleum, bauxite, aluminium, steel, chemicals and agricultural 

products. Venezuela's economy has been affected by the recession due to its dependence on oil exports.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

Venezuela’s GDP at current prices in 2010 was VEB 983.99 billion compared to VEB 700.21 billion in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela, IMF)

(Source: econstats)

The GDP growth in Venezuela in 2005 was 10.32% and has declined since then. In 2009, the GDP growth rate was a negative value of 3.29%

GDP per capita

The GDP per capita at current prices was VEB 24,473 in 2009 which increased slightly over the previous year when it was VEB 23,814.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Gross national income per capita, PPP

Venezuela’s GNI per capita at PPP was USD 11,846 in 2010 compared to USD 10,578 in 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Taxation

Individual income tax rate

The tax rates for individual income are progressive and vary from 6% to 34%

(Source: tax rates.cc)

Corporate tax rates

(Source: tax rates.cc)

Inflation rate

The inflation rate in Venezuela in 2010 was estimated at 29.17% compared to 27.08% in 2009.

(Source: IMF)

Foreign direct investment

FDI in 2009 was USD -4,939 million compared to USD -924 million in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Portfolio investment

The portfolio investment in 2009 amounted to USD 8,931 million compared to USD 3,046 million in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Banking sector assets

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Consumer price index

(Source: CentralBank of Venezuela)

Base, December 2007 = 100

The CPI in Venezuela has risen steadily and doubled in the last three years. The index figure for February 2011 was 217.6 compared to 169.1 in February 2010.

Interest rates

The interest rates of Commercial and Universal Banks inVenezuala are:

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Money supply (currency in circulation)

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Government expenditure

The total expenditure in 2010 increased from VEB 172,691,540,000 in 2008 to VEB 184,161,339,000 in 2009. The expenditure in 2009 was 26.3% of GDP compared to 25.9% in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Official exchange rate

The VEB per USD was 2,150 in 2009 and has remained constant since 2007.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Government finances

Fiscal balance

In 2009, Venezuela had a fiscal deficit of VEB 35,609.11 million compared to a deficit of VEB 8,034.47 million in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Total revenue

Venezuela's government revenue decreased to VEB 151,525 million in 2009 from VEB 166,000 million. This was primarily due to the decrease in oil revenues. The total revenue was 21.6% of total GDP.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Tax revenue

The total tax revenue in 2009 was VEB 86,546,512,000 which was higher than the tax collections in 2008.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Current account balance

The current account balance in 2010 was 7.79% of GDP compared to 2.63% in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Balance of payments

The balance of payments deficit in 2010 was USD 8,060 million which decreased from USD -10,262 million in 2009.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

The total workforce n Venezuela in 2009 was 12.96 million of which 11.98 million were employed and 975,000 people were reported as unemployed.

The unemployment rate in was 7.5% in 2009 which increased from 6.9% in 2008. In 2010, the unemployment rate was estimated to be 8.6%.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela, IMF)

The unemployment rate in the 15-24 year age group was 16% in 2009 which was highest amongst all age groups.

(Source: Central Bank of Venezuela)

Minimum wage

The minimum wage in Venezuela has been VEB 1,223.89 per month since May 1, 2010. (Source: venelogia.com)

Level of unionisation

The main trade unions active in Venezuela include:

• Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV)
• National Union of Workers (UNT)
• Venezuelan Confederation of Autonomous Trade Unions (CODESA)
• General Confederation of Workers (CGT)
• Union Confederation of the Americas (CSA)

(Source: fes.de)

Venezuela is a federal republic. The president is the head of the government and the chief of state. The cabinet is appointed by the president.

Venezuela has a unicameral parliament known as the National Assembly. It is comprised of 165 members, of which 162 are directly elected and three seats are reserved for the country’s indigenous population. The members of parliament are elected for a term of five years.

The current president of Venezuela is Hugo Chavez. Hugo Chavez has in past survived a coup, protests, strikes, and a referendum since coming to power in 1998.

The main political parties’ active in Venezuela include:

·         United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV),

·         Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV)

·         Democratic Action or Accion Democratica (AD)

·         Christian Democrats or Comite Organizador Politico por Elecciones Independientes (COPEI)

·         Homeland for All or Patria Para Todos (PPT)

·         Movement to Socialism or Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS)

·         Radical Cause or La Causa Radical

·         First Justice or Primero Justicia

·         The National Convergence or Convergencia

·         For Social Democracy (Podemos)

·         Un Nuevo Tiempo (UNT)

·         Project Venezuela

(Source: state.gov, BBC, IPU)

Regulatory environment in Venezuela

(Source:Heritage.org)

Venzuela's economic freedom score is 37.6 making its economy the 175^th freest in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. Venezuela ranks 28^th out of 29 regional countries in the Central and South America. Venezuela’s overall score is much lower than the global and regional averages.

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Venezuela was ranked 164^th on this list in 2010, which indicates that the corruption levels in the public departments is fairly high.

Venezuela has slipped in the CPI rankings since 2009 where it was ranked 162^nd with a score of 1.9 which indicates the perceived levels of corruption have increased. (Source:transparency.org)

Freedom of information

The media in Venezuela is restricted and the government controls the news channels. The defamation of the president is punishable by 6 to 30 months in prison. There have been cases of journalists from private organisations being harassed, threatened or detained. (Source: freedomhouse.org)

Venezuela is ranked 133^rd in the world Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 47.33 which indicates that media in Venezuela is restricted. (Source: rsf.org)

Newspapers

·         El Nacional

·         Ultimas Noticias

·         El Universal

·         El Mundo

·         Panorama

·         El Carabobeno

 (Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The courts in Venezuela are part of the federal system. The Supreme Court of Justice is the highest court of appeal in Venezuela. Below the Supreme Court are Superior Courts in each of the 17 judicial districts. Other lower courts in the districts include Courts of Instruction, District Courts, Municipal Courts, and Courts of First Instance.

(Source: countrystudies)

The total population of Venezuela in 2009 was 28.38 million, increasing at a rate of approximately 1.7% over the previous year.

(Source: World Bank, UN)

The gender ratio in Venezuela is balanced i.e. there are approximately 100.8 men for every 100  women.

(Source: UN)

Total deaths recorded in 2008 were 124,062 and the crude death rate in 2009 was 5 (per thousand people).

(Source: National Statistics)

The mortality rate of infants (per 1,000 live births) was registered at 17 deaths between 2005-2010.

The crude birth rate in 2008 was 21.27 births (per thousands) which has declined since 2002 when it was 22.9 births (per thousands). Total live births registered in 2008 was 581,480 which was lower than 615,371 the previous year.

(Source: National Statistics)

The average life expectancy in Venezuela for men is 71.22 years and 77.18 years for women (2010). The total life expectancy of the total population was 74.12 years in 2010.

(Source: National Statistics)

The number of individuals below 14 years of age accounted for 29.8% of the total population (in 2009). In 2009, 8.9% of women and 7.9% of men (% of total population) were above 60 years of age.

The international migrant stock in mid 2010 was recorded at 1,007,400 people. This was approximately 3.5% of the total population.

(Source: UN)

In 2007, 93.1% of the population lived in urban areas. Between 2005-2010, the urban population grew at a rate of 2% and the rural population declined at a rate of 3.4%.

(Source: UN)

Ethnic groups in Venezuela are:

·         Spanish

·         Italian

·         Portuguese

·         Arab

·         German

·         African

·         Amerindian

(Source: state.gov)

Venezuela ranked 75^th out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index 2010 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

Education

Venezuela's literacy rate between 2003 – 2008 has been estimated at 95%. (Source: UNICEF)

The education system in Venzuela is well organised and is provided to all. Education is compulsory from the age of 6 to 15.

Health care

Basic health care in Venezuela is free but the state run hospitals are inefficient and underfunded. The doctors in these hospitals are also paid poorly which often leads to strikes for salary increases, affecting the overall health care system. In 2003, the government took the initiative to build 8,000 new clinics in places where people are deprived of health care. 

(Source: healthofnations.com)

The main causes of death of children under 5 years of age is premature delivery which causes (23%) of total deaths, congenital abnormalities (19%), pneumonia (10%), injuries (9%), birth asphyxia (9%), neonatal sepsis (8%) and diarrhoea (7%).

(Source: WHO)

The public expenditure on health is approximately 2.7% of GDP. (Source: UNDP)

The transportation system in Venezuela is well developed. Roadways are the primary means of transportation and Venezuela's roadways are amongst the most developed in the Latin American region. Venezuela has a metro system in the major cities. The rapid transit system serves the city commuters.

(Source: country data)

Ports:  There are 38 ports in Venezuela. The major ports in Venezuela are - La Guaira, Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello and Punta Cardon. (Source:world port source)

Airports

Venezuela has more than 400 airports. Some of the main airports are listed below:

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

Venezuela had 8.8 million internet users in 2009 with an internet penetration of 33%.

(Source:internetworldstats.com)