8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / South America

Born in Venezuela

About 1 in 309 people born in 2023 started life in Venezuela. A boy can expect to live 69 years and a girl 77, up from 49 and 54 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 93% have basic drinking water.

1 in 309
odds of being born here
427,000 births · Ranked 60th of 230
69 / 77
years of life, boys / girls
Was 49 / 54 in 1950
$4,755
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 126th of 203 · extrapolated
89%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 21 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 151 in every 1,000 births to 19.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150200195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth68.7 years for boys, 76.5 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 518.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year214,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.7World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles68%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.6%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year47 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year10 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.6 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.1, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.08UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth26.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 50 and the poorest fifth 4.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2006
4%Poorest fifth
10%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
50%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $4,755 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth50% / 4% (2006)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.4% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises254.9% a year (2016)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person3.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming9% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed40% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment97% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Caracas, with 3.0 million people.

89%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
93%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Caracas3.0 million
Maracaibo1.8 million
Valencia1.6 million
Barquisimeto1.2 million
Ciudad Guayana978,202
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish82%
Spanish is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Zulia3.5 million
Distrito Federal3.0 million
Miranda2.8 million
Carabobo2.5 million
Anzoátegui1.9 million
Lara1.8 million
Bolívar1.8 million
Aragua1.5 million
Táchira1.0 million
Barinas985,047

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 24 regions
  • Zulia3.5 million
  • Distrito Federal3.0 million
  • Miranda2.8 million
  • Carabobo2.5 million
  • Anzoátegui1.9 million
  • Lara1.8 million
  • Bolívar1.8 million
  • Aragua1.5 million
  • Táchira1.0 million
  • Barinas985,047
  • Monagas831,533
  • Mérida805,827
  • Guárico737,773
  • Sucre724,562
  • Falcón717,161
  • Portuguesa687,628
  • Yaracuy645,138
  • Trujillo578,241
  • Nueva Esparta520,745
  • Apure443,464
  • Cojedes313,176
  • Vargas222,469
  • Amazonas125,840
  • Delta Amacuro99,778

People on the move

About 29% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Colombia, Peru, United States.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Colombia2,904,873
Peru1,596,667
United States763,915
Residents born abroad4.4% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 29.3% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostColombia (2.9 million), Peru (1.6 million), United States (763,915)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $4.3 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 5%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2019)
5%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2016)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20245,856Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195011; the deadliest, in 1967, killed about 300 people (magnitude 6.6)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence1,409 between 1989 and 2022UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Venezuela, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Venezuela

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences