Venezuela, Latin America’s sixth-most-populous country, went from simmering mess to full-on crisis this year. Ongoing drought, political mismanagement, and a drop-off in oil revenue have driven shortages of essentials like power, water, and medicine.
The country’s inflation is also the highest in the world. In fact, it’s so severe that the government doesn’t have enough specialized paper to print more bills, and has taken to flying in banknotes printed abroad.
Here are a few key statistics on the country’s meltdown.
- 30
Minutes the government pushed the official time forward, to maximize daylight and blunt the blow of power shortages. - 5
Days in the weekend for public-sector workers. - 1,032
Number of bolivares one dollar can buy on the black market, up from eight in 2010. - –8%
Amount the economy is projected to shrink this year, according to IMF estimates.
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A version of this article appears in the June 15, 2016 issue of Coins2Day with the headline “Venezuela by the Numbers.”