Venezuela remains highly dependent on oil revenues, which account for roughly 95% of export earnings, about 40% of federal budget revenues, and around 12% of GDP. Fueled by high oil prices, record government spending helped to boost GDP growth by 4.2% in 2011, after a sharp drop in oil prices caused an economic contraction in 2009-10. Government spending, minimum wage hikes, and improved access to domestic credit created an increase in consumption which combined with supply problems to cause higher inflation - roughly 28% in 2011. President Hugo CHAVEZ's efforts to increase the government's control of the economy by nationalizing firms in the agribusiness, financial, construction, oil, and steel sectors have hurt the private investment environment, reduced productive capacity, and slowed non-petroleum exports. In the first half of 2010 Venezuela faced the prospect of lengthy nationwide blackouts when its main hydroelectric power plant - which provides more than 35% of the country's electricity - nearly shut down. In May 2010, CHAVEZ closed the unofficial foreign exchange market - the "parallel market" - in an effort to stem inflation and slow the currency's depreciation. In June 2010, the government created the "Transaction System for Foreign Currency Denominated Securities" to replace the "parallel" market. In December 2010, CHAVEZ eliminated the dual exchange rate system and unified the exchange rate at 4.3 bolivars per dollar. In January 2011, CHAVEZ announced the second devaluation of the bolivar within twelve months. In December 2010, the National Assembly passed a package of five organic laws designed to complete the transformation of the Venezuelan economy in line with CHAVEZ's vision of 21st century socialism. In 2011, Venezuela continued to wrestle with a housing crisis, higher inflation, an electricity crisis, and rolling food and goods shortages - all of which were fallout from the government's unorthodox economic policies. The budget deficit reached around 5.2% of GDP in 2011, and public debt as a percent of GDP climbed steeply, despite record oil prices.

Data cover central government debt, as well as the debt of state-owned oil company PDVSA; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include some debt issued by subnational entities, as well as intra-governmental debt; intra-governmental debt consists of treasury borrowings from surpluses in the social funds, such as for retirement, medical care, and unemployment; some debt instruments for the social funds are sold at public auctions.

18.348% (31 December 2010 est.)

$110.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$117.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$115.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$124.2 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$72.45 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$87.96 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$5.143 billion (31 December 2011)

$3.991 billion (31 December 2010)

$8.86 billion (31 December 2009)

Corn, sorghum, sugarcane, rice, bananas, vegetables, coffee; beef, pork, milk, eggs; fish

Petroleum, construction materials, food processing, textiles; iron ore mining, steel, aluminum; motor vehicle assembly, chemical products, paper products

2.375 million bbl/day (2010 est.)

1.871 million bbl/day (2009 est.)

211.2 billion bbl (1 January 2011 est.)

5.065 trillion cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

Petroleum, bauxite and aluminum, minerals, chemicals, agricultural products, basic manufactures

US 39.9%, China 10.5%, India 6% (2009 est.)

Agricultural products, livestock, raw materials, machinery and equipment, transport equipment, construction materials, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, iron and steel products

US 28.8%, China 15.2%, Brazil 10.7% (2009 est.)

$26.91 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$28.86 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$89.6 billion (30 September 2011 est.)

$80.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$45.2 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$40.4 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$20.15 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$19.89 billion (31 December 2010 est.)