LONDON — Gallup's most recent survey of Venezuela in 2025 paints a picture of a country still reeling from years of economic distress, with fewer than four in 10 approving of its leadership and limited trust in elections. The survey, conducted between June 4 and July 4, 2025, predates both the U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean and the Jan. 3 capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife by U.S. forces.
Gallup’s trends from the past two decades help illuminate the challenges Venezuela will face in the months and years ahead in the post-Maduro era.
Economic Perceptions Languishing After Years of Deep Recession
In 2025, three in five Venezuelan adults (60%) reported struggling to afford food at times during the previous year. Nearly half (47%) said they were finding it "difficult" or "very difficult" on their current household incomes.
Both figures are among the highest reported levels of economic hardship in Latin America and the Caribbean: Only Honduras (59%) matched Venezuela in the proportion of residents lacking money for food in 2025, while Guatemala (56%) came close. Bolivians (48%) and Jamaicans (45%) experienced challenges similar to Venezuelans’ regarding overall difficulty in making ends meet.
Even among the wealthiest 20% of Venezuelan households, a majority (54%) reported difficulties affording food, a distinction unmatched by any other country in the region.
Both measures have followed similar trajectories in Gallup’s trends, with reported economic difficulties rising gradually between 2008 and 2015 before a sharp spike in 2016 that coincided with hyperinflation. Over time, the strain has abated somewhat, but Venezuelans’ difficulties in meeting basic needs and getting by on household income remain more pressing than they were in the early 2010s.
Venezuela continues to endure economic hardship despite some improvements in recent years. Economic growth returned in 2022 after a deep recession, with national GDP falling from U.S. $373 billion in 2012 to $43 billion in 2020, according to the International Monetary Fund. In 2015, the country’s Central Bank stopped publishing monthly economic data, leading to many years without reliable information.
Venezuelans were less negative in 2025 when it came to the outlook for the economy in their local area: 45% said economic conditions were getting worse, while nearly as many, 42%, said they were getting better. Although Venezuelans are divided, this reflects significant improvement since 2020, when just 13% of Venezuelans believed their local economy was improving. At the time, only Lebanon, itself mired in economic collapse, ranked lower, at 7%.
Yet, when asked in 2025 to name the most important problem facing Venezuela, 64% cited economic issues, more than four times the number who mentioned politics (14%) and far exceeding those most concerned with safety and security (1%).
Employment Crisis Threatens Long-Term Recovery
Building sustainable economic growth in Venezuela will require strengthening a workforce already decimated by years of crisis and mass migration. Roughly 8 million people have fled the country since 2015, a significant percentage compared with the population of about 30 million in 2025.
Last year, 19% of Venezuelan adults were employed full-time for an employer, down from roughly 30% between 2009 and 2016. This represents one of the lowest employment rates in the region, with only Honduras lower, at 13%.
Employment itself offers little security: Only 7% of those working full-time reported living comfortably on their incomes last year, on par with those who were not employed full-time (11%).
Minority Approved of Maduro, Country’s Leadership
A minority of Venezuelans (39%) approved of their country's leadership in 2025, which proved to be Maduro's final year in office. His personal approval rating was nearly identical at 37%. These two measures — Maduro’s approval rating and broader national leadership approval — have tracked closely over time.
Approval levels last year were about double those of a decade earlier (20% in 2015), during Maduro's first few years in power. However, they remained far below the majority approval (57%) national leadership enjoyed under President Hugo Chavez in 2012, the final year before his death in March 2013.
In two decades of surveying Venezuela, Gallup has documented different reactions to the two leaders serving during that time. Under Chavez, more Venezuelans consistently approved of national leadership than disapproved. But since Maduro came to power — amid deep economic malaise — the opposite has been true.
Wellbeing Better Than in Depths of Crisis, but Among the Lowest in Region
Venezuelans' wellbeing has been relatively resilient in recent years despite other negative trends. Last year, 38% of adults could be classified as "thriving" on Gallup's Life Evaluation Index, which asks people to rate their current and future lives on a scale from 0 (the worst) to 10 (the best). Those rating their present life at 7 or above and their life in five years at 8 or above are considered "thriving," while those rating both at 4 or below are "suffering." The remainder are “struggling.”
Like other trends in Venezuela, people’s life evaluation ratings were more positive in the pre-Maduro era. In 2012, Chavez's final full year, a majority of adults (57%) were classified as thriving.
The latest percentage of Venezuelans classified as thriving is about three times higher than in 2016, when the rate was 13%. Yet life evaluation in Venezuela still lags behind most of the region. Only Bolivia — which has experienced its own recent economic collapse — ranked statistically lower than Venezuela in 2025 for the proportion thriving (31%).
One-Third Express Confidence in Honesty of Elections in Venezuela
Roughly one in three Venezuelan adults (32%) expressed confidence that elections in the country were honest in 2025, while approximately twice as many (62%) said they were not. Public trust in electoral integrity last year was marginally above average for Maduro's tenure but remained lower than confidence levels under Chavez.
A year earlier, Venezuelans voted in a presidential election whose results were widely viewed as fraudulent, after which Maduro remained in power. U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken about the U.S. administering Venezuela until the country stabilizes, which could mean until the next election.
Bottom Line
While Maduro awaits trial in New York and much of his administration remains intact, Venezuela faces formidable challenges. Though recent years showed tentative signs of hope compared with the depths of the economic crisis, the path ahead remains rocky, and the next chapter for Venezuela is yet to be written.
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For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.
