Distillers Country guides / Venezuela
Venezuela
A one-page guide to Venezuela for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Caracas
- Official languages
- Spanish
- Currency
- Venezuelan bolivar (VED)
- Time zone
- UTC-4
- Area
- 912,050 km²
People
- Population
- 28.5 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 0.4% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 89.3%
- Aged under 15
- 24.9%
- Aged 65 and over
- 10.0%
- Life expectancy
- 72.7 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$99.7 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$3,495 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 1.57% (2025)
Climate
Ranges from humid low-elevation plains to Andean highlands (paramo); annual rainfall from about 430 mm in the north-west to over 1,000 mm in the Orinoco delta and south. Hot lowland warehouses age rum quickly.
Alcohol
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 3.02 litres of pure alcohol (2019)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Venezuela (Wikipedia); World Bank API; Our World in Data / WHO GISAH alcohol per capita; UN Comtrade API; Wikipedia: Venezuelan rum; Difford's Guide: DUSA history; Rhum Attitude: Venezuela. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.