Venezuela’s economy shrank by 19.2% in the first nine months of 2018

Venezuela’s economy shrank by 19.2% YoY in the first nine months of 2018, as private consumption has fallen sharply and inflation has risen, according to the data of the Venezuelan Central Bank. Economic statistics, which is usually strictly kept a secret from the Venezuelan regime, were published on the central bank’s website on Tuesday. The last time the institution published economic statistics was in 2015.

The inflation rate in Venezuela in 2018 was 130,060%, and between 2013 and 2018 the economy shrank by 47.6%, according to data released by the Central Bank.

The US Treasury Department has sanctioned last month the financial institution and its director, Iliana Ruzza, claiming that the government of Nicholas Maduro has exploited them in order to remain in power.

Yesterday, the central bank said that private consumption declined by 18.7% in the first nine months of last year, while public consumption declined by 9%. According to the latest data, the manufacturing sector decreased by 22.5% and retail trade by 34.1%.

The Bank points out that in 2016 inflation was 274.4%, in 2017 – 862.6%, and in 2018 – 130,060%. These data are quite different from the figures of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which calculated inflation in Venezuela last year at 1,370,000%.

For 2019, the IMF predicts in its report that inflation will reach 10,000,000%.

The central bank also announced that in 2018, oil exports, which accounted for 96% of the country’s revenue, fell to 29.81 billion USD.

Revenues from this trade amounted to 85,603 billion USD in 2013 and 71,732 billion USD in 2014 when oil prices collapsed and an economic crisis broke out in Venezuela.

Despite the rise in prices after 2016, the dramatic decline in oil production in Venezuela has hindered revenue growth.

According to official data, the supply of Venezuelan oil, which was 3.2 million barrels per day ten years ago, was 1.03 million barrels per day in April.