Gallup poll finds majority of Venezuelans struggled to afford food last year

A Gallup survey released on Thursday found that a majority of Venezuelans struggled to afford food last year, painting a grim picture of daily life in the months before President Nicolás Maduro was ousted in a U.S. military operation. Gallup interviewed about 1,000 people in person from early June to early July and reported that three in five Venezuelans struggled at times to afford food.

More than half of the wealthiest 20 percent said they had difficulty paying for groceries. The poll also found that just under a fifth of respondents had full-time jobs, 64 percent named the economy as the biggest issue facing the country, and only about a third said they were confident their elections were honest.

The survey placed the current hardship in a longer-running crisis: when the economy shrank between 2016 and 2019, hyperinflation pushed basic goods out of reach for 80 percent of people, and although the economy had been on track for modest recovery, food affordability remained a major challenge.

Julie Ray, Gallup’s managing editor for world news, said, "Venezuelans have been under a lot of distress for over a decade," and that the poll "does show that a sizable percentage of the population is still struggling." The poll highlighted the uncertainty ahead as Venezuela faces political and economic upheaval following Mr.

Key Topics

World, Venezuela, Gallup, Nicolas Maduro, Food Insecurity, Caracas