After 800 per cent inflation in one year, Venezuela's currency is now worth half as much as the virtual gold you can earn by killing monsters in World of Warcraft.

The Bolivar has been in freefall since the economy collapsed, partly due to the low price of oil, which has been the country's major export.

In May, 279 Bolivars were worth US$1.

On Wednesday, the same dollar would buy 12,197 Bolivars or 5662 units of virtual gold in the World of Warcraft, an online multiplayer game with millions of users. Since 2015, users have been able to exchange real cash for virtual gold to buy in-game items, like armour or weapons, instead of labouring in the game to earn this gold.

The comparison indicates the depth of economic problems in Venezuela, a country of more than 30 million people where 80 per cent of households are living in poverty.

As the currency has lost value the Venezuelan government has been printing money. This has increased the rate of inflation, the value of the Bolivar has continued to fall, and Venezuelans have been desperately trying to exchange their bolivars for dollars.

That's led to a scarcity of dollars that's boosted the dollar's value even more.

Back in June, Dr Anthea McCarthy-Jones, an expert on Venezuelan politics from the University of New South Wales, told Hack the Bolivar was worth so little that banknotes were being weighed instead of counted.

People are having to carry around backpacks and shopping bags full of paper notes because it's so worthless," she said.

Since then, the value of the Bolivar has almost halved.

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Whatsapp People hold up 100-Bolivar notes during a protest over lack of cash on December 16, 2016.

These economic conditions as well as the arrest of multiple opposition leaders has led to mass protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government.

The President is accused of trying to to rewrite the constitution in order to maximise his power and sideline the opposition-controlled parliament.

At least 10 people were killed on Sunday as the opposition boycotted a vote for a new legislative superbody widely denounced as anti-democratic.

Two opposition leaders under house arrest were snatched from their homes overnight and taken to a military prison.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's travel advice for Venezuela is "reconsider your need to travel" due to high levels of serious crime, ongoing political uncertainty, food shortages, and ongoing problems with the local currency.

The value of World of Warcraft virtual gold has been steady through 2017.