Editing Economy of Venezuela (section)

=== Poverty and hunger ===
Extreme poverty and lack of food and medicines has pushed more than three million Venezuelans to leave the country in recent years.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-36319877|title=Venezuela crisis: How the political situation escalated|access-date=24 January 2019|work=BBC News}}</ref> [[Andres Bello Catholic University]] conducted a study of poverty that found the poorest 20% of Venezuelans had 1.4% of the nation's wealth, down from 3.4% in 2014, while the richest 10% had 61% of the nation's wealth, up from 30%.<ref name= LosesGrip>{{cite news |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/maduro-loses-grip-on-venezuelas-poor-a-vital-source-of-his-power-11553014207 |work= The Wall Street Journal|title= Maduro loses grip on Venezuela's poor, a vital source of his power |author= Luhnow, David |date= 19 March 2019 |access-date= 20 March 2019}}</ref>

According to government figures released in April 2017, 1,446 children under the age of 1 died in 2016, representing a 30 percent increase in one year.<ref name=":0" /> As of August 2017, 31 million people suffered from severe food shortages.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/26/nicolas-maduro-donald-trump-venezuela-hunger|title=Hunger eats away at Venezuela's soul as its people struggle to survive|last=Graham-Harrison|first=Emma|date=2017-08-26|work=The Observer|access-date=2017-12-18|language=en|issn=0029-7712}}</ref> The ENCOVI universities survey found that 73% of Venezuelans said they had lost {{convert|9|kg|lb|abbr=on}} of body weight in 2016<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fundacionbengoa.org/noticias/2017/images/ENCOVI-2016-Alimentacion.pdf|title=ENCOVI, Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Vida, Venezuela 2016, Alimentación|last=Landaeta-Jiménez|first=Maritza|display-authors=etal|date=February 2017|website=ENCOVI, Fundación Bengoa para la Alimentación y Nutrición|language=es|trans-title=National Survey of Living Conditions, Venezuela 2016, Food|access-date=2018-02-23|archive-date=9 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190109064534/https://www.fundacionbengoa.org/noticias/2017/images/ENCOVI-2016-Alimentacion.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> and 64% had lost {{convert|11|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ucab.edu.ve/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/02/ENCOVI-Alimentaci%C3%B3n-2017.pdf|title=ENCOVI, Encuesta Nacional de Condiciones de Vida, Venezuela 2017, Alimentación I|last=Landaeta-Jiménez|first=Maritza|display-authors=etal|date=February 2018|website=Universidad Catolica Andres Bello|language=es|trans-title=ENCOVI, National Survey of Living Conditions, Venezuela 2017, Food 1|access-date=2018-02-23|archive-date=6 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006090848/https://www.ucab.edu.ve/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/02/ENCOVI-Alimentaci%C3%B3n-2017.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":2" />

When the country's economy collapsed in 2014, hunger and malnutrition became a severe problem.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/12/17/world/americas/venezuela-children-starving.html|title=As Venezuela Collapses, Children Are Dying of Hunger|last=Kohut|first=Meredith|date=2017-12-17|work=The New York Times|access-date=2017-12-18|language=en|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2015, close to 45% of Venezuelans said they were unable to afford food at times. In 2018, this figure rose to 79%, one of the highest rates in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/06/young-venezuelans-want-to-flee-as-economy-collapses-poll-finds|title=Over half of young Venezuelans want to flee as economy collapses, poll finds|last=Graham-Harrison|first=Emma|date=2018-03-06|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-03-07}}</ref>

Although poverty initially declined under Chávez, Venezuela's poverty rate increased to 28% by 2013, with extreme poverty rates increasing 4.4% to 10% according to the Venezuelan government's INE.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pobreza|url=http://www.ine.gov.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=104&Itemid=45|website=INE|access-date=31 August 2014|archive-date=27 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120727181241/http://www.ine.gov.ve/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=104&Itemid=45|url-status=dead}}</ref> Estimates of poverty by the [[United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean]] (ECLAC) and [[Luis Pedro España]], a sociologist at the [[Universidad Católica Andrés Bello]], showed an increase of poverty in Venezuela.<ref name=CSM25march>{{cite news|last1=Gallagher|first1=J. J.|title=Venezuela: Does an increase in poverty signal threat to government?|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/2015/0325/Venezuela-Does-an-increase-in-poverty-signal-threat-to-government|access-date=29 March 2015|agency=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]|date=25 March 2015}}</ref> ECLAC showed a 2013 poverty rate of 32% while Pedro España calculated a 2015 rate of 48%.<ref name=CSM25march/> The Venezuelan government estimated that 33% were in poverty in the first half of 2015 and then stopped producing statistics.<ref name=":1" /> According to Venezuelan NGO [[PROVEA]], by the end of 2015 there would be the same number of Venezuelans living in poverty as there was in 2000, reversing the advancements against poverty by Chávez.<ref name=CSM25march/> The ENCOVI annual survey by three universities estimated poverty at 48% in 2014, 82% in 2016 and 87% in 2017.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/21/venezuelans-report-big-weight-losses-in-2017-as-hunger-hits.html|title=Venezuelans report big weight losses in 2017 as hunger hits|date=2018-02-21|work=CNBC|access-date=2018-02-23|archive-date=23 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180223171506/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/21/venezuelans-report-big-weight-losses-in-2017-as-hunger-hits.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In relation to [[hunger]], under-nutrition, undernourishment and the percentage of children under the age of five who are moderately or severely underweight decreased earlier in Chávez's tenure.<ref name=Indicators>[http://mdgs.un.org/unsd/mdg/Search.aspx?q=venezuela "Millennium Development Goals Indicators."] United Nations Statistics Division. Web 4 March 2012.</ref> However, [[shortages in Venezuela]] as a result of [[price control]] policies and heavy import dependence left the majority of Venezuelans without adequate products after his death.