Skenande inflation bakom krisen i Venezuela

The crisis in Venezuela is the socioeconomic and political crisis that Venezuela has undergone since Hugo Chávez's tenure and which extended over the years into the current presidency of Nicolás Maduro. It is the worst economic crisis in Venezuela's history, and the contraction of national and per capita GDPs between 2013 and 2017 has been more severe than that of the United States during the Great Depression, or of Russia, Cuba, and Albania following the fall of communism. During the year 2016, for example, consumer prices rose 800%, the economy contracted by 18.6%, and hunger escalated to the point that the "Venezuela's Living Conditions Survey" (ENCOVI) found nearly 75 percent of the population had lost an average of at least 8.7 kg (19.4 lb) in weight due to a lack of proper nutrition. The murder rate in 2015 was 90 per 100,000 people according to the Observatory of Venezuelan Violence (compared to 5 per 100,000 in the US). The crisis has affected the average life of Venezuelans on various levels. The rise of unemployment resulted in the emergence of social movements aimed at both changing the economic and productive model, as well as questioning the political system and demanding a democratic renewal. Political corruption, scarcity of basic products, closure of companies, deterioration of productivity and competitiveness, and high dependence on oil are other problems that have also contributed to the worsening crisis. The crisis was the result of "Bolivarian Revolution" policies of the Chávez and Maduro governments and has been deepened by low oil prices. According to study published on 2018 by three Venezualan universities, almost 90% of the Venezuelan population now lives in poverty.