Venezuela’s GDP grows 8.78% in the second quarter of 2024

The Venezuela’s economic activity grew 8.78% between April and June of this year, with which the country has accumulated 13 consecutive quarters with increases in its gross domestic product (GDP), the Central Bank (BCV) reported on Thursday.

“These results give continuity to the economic recovery process, which began in the second quarter of 2021, and are supported by the heroic feat of resistance of the Venezuelan people against the economic blockade imposed on Venezuela,” indicated the BCV in a press release, which added that during the first quarter of the year there was a growth of 8.40%.

He argued that “unilateral coercive measures” continue to have an “adverse” impact on the dynamism of economic activity, even though “procedures and different initiatives have been adopted that have made it easier to overcome this situation, in part.”

Economy in transition

The Central Bank said Venezuela has suffered “significant losses since 2015.”

“It is important to keep this in the collective memory, even though the economy is currently undergoing a phase of economic recovery,” he reiterated.

The institution noted that the results of the last three years indicate that the Venezuelan economy is on a “real path to recovery, reinventing itself and overcoming obstacles.”

The oil sector increased by 11.08% in the second quarter of the year, while non-oil activity rose by 6.58%, driven mainly by the positive performance of financial and insurance activities (20.9%), construction (18.4%), as well as manufacturing (8.8%).

GDP expectations

Last May, Head of State Nicolás Maduro predicted that the national economy would close the year with growth of more than 8%.

According to the government, GDP grew 5.5% last year compared to 2022, which contrasts with information from the Venezuelan Finance Observatory – an independent entity outside the Central Bank made up of experts – which recorded a 1.2% drop in 2023.