Population:
28,644,603
(July 2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
50
[see also: Population country ranks ]
Nationality:
noun:
Venezuelan(s)
adjective:
Venezuelan
Ethnic groups:
unspecified Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arab, German, African, indigenous people
Languages:
Spanish (official), numerous indigenous dialects
Religions:
nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%, other 2%
Demographic profile:
Social investment in Venezuela during the CHAVEZ administration reduced poverty from nearly 50% in 1999 to about 27% in 2011, increased school enrollment, substantially decreased infant and child mortality, and improved access to potable water and sanitation through social investment. "Missions" dedicated to education, nutrition, healthcare, and sanitation were funded through petroleum revenues. The sustainability of this progress remains questionable, however, as the continuation of these social programs depends on the prosperity of Venezuela's oil industry. In the long-term, education and health care spending may increase economic growth and reduce income inequality, but rising costs and the staffing of new health care jobs with foreigners are slowing development.
While CHAVEZ was in power, more than one million predominantly middle- and upper-class Venezuelans are estimated to have emigrated. The brain drain is attributed to a repressive political system, lack of economic opportunities, steep inflation, a high crime rate, and corruption. Thousands of oil engineers emigrated to Canada, Colombia, and the United States following CHAVEZ's firing of over 20,000 employees of the state-owned petroleum company during a 2002-03 oil strike. Additionally, thousands of Venezuelans of European descent have taken up residence in their ancestral homelands. Nevertheless, Venezuela has attracted hundreds of thousands of immigrants from South America and southern Europe because of its lenient migration policy and the availability of education and health care. Venezuela also has been a fairly accommodating host to Colombian refugees, numbering about 170,000 as of year-end 2016. However, since 2014, falling oil prices have driven a major economic crisis that has pushed Venezuelans from all walks of life to migrate or to seek asylum abroad to escape severe shortages of food, water, and medicine; soaring inflation; unemployment; and violence. As of November 2019, an estimated 4.6 million Venezuelans were refugees or migrants worldwide, with almost 80% taking refuge in Latin America and the Caribbean (notably Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil, as well as the Dominican Republic, Aruba, and Curacao). Asylum applications increased significantly in the US and Brazil in 2016 and 2017. Several receiving countries are making efforts to increase immigration restrictions and to deport illegal Venezuelan migrants - Ecuador and Peru in August 2018 began requiring valid passports for entry, which are difficult to obtain for Venezuelans. Nevertheless, Venezuelans continue to migrate to avoid economic collapse at home.
Age structure:
0-14 years: 25.66%
(male 3,759,280/female 3,591,897)
[see also: Age structure - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 16.14%
(male 2,348,073/female 2,275,912)
[see also: Age structure - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 41.26%
(male 5,869,736/female 5,949,082)
[see also: Age structure - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 8.76%
(male 1,203,430/female 1,305,285)
[see also: Age structure - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 8.18%
(male 1,069,262/female 1,272,646)
(2020 est.)
[see also: Age structure - 65 years and over country ranks ]
population pyramid:
This is the population pyramid for Venezuela. A population pyramid illustrates the age and sex structure of a country's population and may provide insights about political and social stability, as well as economic development. The population is distributed along the horizontal axis, with males shown on the left and females on the right. The male and female populations are broken down into 5-year age groups represented as horizontal bars along the vertical axis, with the youngest age groups at the bottom and the oldest at the top. The shape of the population pyramid gradually evolves over time based on fertility, mortality, and international migration trends.
For additional information, please see the entry for Population pyramid on the Definitions and Notes page under the References tab.
Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 52.6
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - total dependency ratio country ranks ]
youth dependency ratio: 43
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - youth dependency ratio country ranks ]
elderly dependency ratio: 9.5
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - elderly dependency ratio country ranks ]
potential support ratio: 10.5
(2015 est.)
[see also: Dependency ratios - potential support ratio country ranks ]
Median age:
total: 30 years
[see also: Median age - total country ranks ]
male: 29.4 years
[see also: Median age - male country ranks ]
female: 30.7 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Median age - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
124
Population growth rate:
-0.18%
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
207
[see also: Population growth rate country ranks ]
Birth rate:
17.9 births/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
92
[see also: Birth rate country ranks ]
Death rate:
7.5 deaths/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
106
[see also: Death rate country ranks ]
Net migration rate:
-3.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
183
[see also: Net migration rate country ranks ]
Population distribution:
most of the population is concentrated in the northern and western highlands along an eastern spur at the northern end of the Andes, an area that includes the capital of Caracas
Urbanization:
urban population: 88.2% of total population
(2019)
[see also: Urbanization - urban population country ranks ]
rate of urbanization: 1.28% annual rate of change
(2015-20 est.)
[see also: Urbanization - rate of urbanization country ranks ]
Major urban areas - population:
2.936 million CARACAS (capital), 2.219 million Maracaibo, 1.885 million Valencia, 1.19 million Maracay, 1.201 million Barquisimeto
(2019)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - at birth country ranks ]
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 0-14 years country ranks ]
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 15-24 years country ranks ]
25-54 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 25-54 years country ranks ]
55-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 55-64 years country ranks ]
65 years and over: 0.84 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio - 65 years and over country ranks ]
total population: 99 male(s)/female
(2020 est.)
[see also: Sex ratio country ranks ]
Maternal mortality rate:
125 deaths/100,000 live births
(2017 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
63
[see also: Maternal mortality rate country ranks ]
Infant mortality rate:
total: 27.9 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - total country ranks ]
male: 31.1 deaths/1,000 live births
[see also: Infant mortality rate - male country ranks ]
female: 24.5 deaths/1,000 live births
(2020 est.)
[see also: Infant mortality rate - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
62
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - total population country ranks ]
male: 67.5 years
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - male country ranks ]
female: 74.7 years
(2020 est.)
[see also: Life expectancy at birth - female country ranks ]
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
163
[See also: Healthy Life Expectancy ]
[See also: Health Performance ]
Total fertility rate:
2.26 children born/woman
(2020 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
87
[see also: Total fertility rate country ranks ]
Contraceptive prevalence rate:
75%
(2010)
[see also: Contraceptive prevalence rate country ranks ]
Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 95% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 77.9% of population
[see also: Drinking water source - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 93.1% of population
unimproved:
urban: 5% of population
rural: 22.1% of population
total: 6.9% of population
(2015 est.)
Current Health Expenditure:
3.2%
(2016)
[see also: Current Health Expenditure country ranks ]
Hospital bed density:
0.8 beds/1,000 population
(2014)
[see also: Hospital bed density country ranks ]
Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 97.5% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - urban country ranks ]
rural: 69.9% of population
(2015 est.)
[see also: Sanitation facility access - improved - rural country ranks ]
total: 94.4% of population
(2015 est.)
unimproved:
urban: 2.5% of population
(2015 est.)
rural: 30.1% of population
(2015 est.)
total: 5.6% of population
(2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.6%
(2016 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
65
[see also: HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
120,000
(2018 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
41
[see also: HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS country ranks ]
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
NA
[see also: HIV/AIDS - deaths country ranks ]
Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk:
high
(2016)
food or waterborne diseases:
bacterial diarrhea and hepatitis A
(2016)
vectorborne diseases:
dengue fever and malaria
(2016)
note: active local transmission of Zika virus by Aedes species mosquitoes has been identified in this country (as of August 2016); it poses an important risk (a large number of cases possible) among US citizens if bitten by an infective mosquito; other less common ways to get Zika are through sex, via blood transfusion, or during pregnancy, in which the pregnant woman passes Zika virus to her fetus
Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
25.6%
(2016)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
50
[see also: Obesity - adult prevalence rate country ranks ]
Children under the age of 5 years underweight:
2.9%
(2009)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
103
[see also: Children under the age of 5 years underweight country ranks ]
Education expenditures:
6.9% of GDP
(2009)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
15
[see also: Education expenditures country ranks ]
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 97.1%
[see also: Literacy - total population country ranks ]
male: 97%
[see also: Literacy - male country ranks ]
female: 97.2%
(2016)
[see also: Literacy - female country ranks ]
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 14 years
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - total country ranks ]
male:
NA
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
female:
NA
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
(2009)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24
total: 14.6%
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - total country ranks ]
male:
NA
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
female:
NA
[see also: Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 - male country ranks ]
[see also: School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) - male country ranks ]
(2015 est.)
country comparison to the world (CIA rank, may be based on non-current data):
97
NOTE: 1) The information regarding Venezuela on this page is re-published from the 2020 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Venezuela People 2020 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Venezuela People 2020 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
2) The rank that you see is the CIA reported rank, which may have the following issues:
a) They assign increasing rank number, alphabetically for countries with the same value of the ranked item, whereas we assign them the same rank.
b) The CIA sometimes assigns counterintuitive ranks. For example, it assigns unemployment rates in increasing order, whereas we rank them in decreasing order.
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This page was last modified 27-Jan-20