Venezuela is a country in South America whose people comprise a combination of heritages, primarily Native American and European. The historically present Native American, Spanish colonists, and African slaves have all contributed to varying degrees. Later, waves of European groups (Italians, Spanish, Portuguese and Germans) migrated to Venezuela in the 20th century, influencing many aspects of Venezuelan life, including its culture, language, food, and music though small in number.
About 51% of the population is mestizo (mixed white and indigenous); Europeans and Arabs (whites) make up 43% of the population, Africans 3.6%, Amerindian people 2%, and other races, mostly Asians, make up 1.2%. About 85% of the population live in urban areas in the northern portion of the country and currently reside in the urban conglomerations (Caracas, Maracay, Maracaibo, Valencia, etc.) that are concentrated in Venezuela's northern coastal mountain strip. Nearly half of Venezuela's geographic area lies south of the Orinoco River; however, this region contains only 5% of the Venezuelan population.
estimate puts Venezuela's total population at inhabitants. Additionally, over the past five years, Venezuelan society's general age structure has been trending towards the homologous structure found in Cuba, Western Europe, Japan, and other healthy and rapidly ageing societies. Notably, there has been a significant increase in the proportion and gross numbers of elderly Venezuelans (aged 65 and up), as well as a corresponding drop in the total fertility. More than 7 million people, that is 20 per cent of the population, have left Venezuela in the last years, mostly as refugees due to the economic and political situation.Venezuela Situation at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Population
According to the total population was in , compared to only 5,482,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 29.5%, 64.9% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 5.6% was 65 years or older.
Total populationProportionaged 0–14(%)Proportionaged 15–64(%)Proportionaged 65+(%) 1950 5,482,000 43.5 54.6 1.9 1955 6,758,000 44.8 53.1 2.0 1960 8,147,000 45.6 51.9 2.4 1965 9,825,000 46.4 51.0 2.6 1970 11,588,000 45.7 51.5 2.8 1975 13,361,000 43.3 53.6 3.0 1980 15,344,000 40.7 56.2 3.2 1985 17,508,000 38.8 57.8 3.4 1990 19,862,000 37.9 58.4 3.7 1995 22,189,000 36.3 59.8 3.9 2000 24,192,000 34.0 61.5 4.5 2005 26,432,000 31.7 63.3 5.0 2010 28,440,000 29.9 64.5 5.6 2015 30,082,000 28.4 65.3 6.4 2020 28,436,000 27.3 64.8 8.0
Source:
Structure of the population
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 13 549 752 13 678 178 27 227 930 100 0–4 1 254 208 1 183 423 2 437 631 8.95 5–9 1 236 217 1 166 147 2 402 364 8.82 10–14 1 298 191 1 218 588 2 516 779 9.24 15–19 1 336 159 1 305 161 2 641 320 9.70 20–24 1 280 125 1 280 524 2 560 649 9.40 25–29 1 159 400 1 184 932 2 344 332 8.61 30–34 1 105 617 1 114 124 2 219 741 8.15 35–39 942 311 962 942 1 905 253 7.00 40–44 873 509 881 981 1 755 490 6.45 45–49 747 704 781 077 1 528 781 5.61 50–54 651 255 686 679 1 337 934 4.91 55–59 530 935 577 864 1 108 799 4.07 60–64 407 656 440 702 848 358 3.12 65-69 267 691 300 997 568 688 2.09 70-74 189 285 221 170 410 455 1.51 75-79 130 126 162 866 292 992 1.08 80-84 78 996 109 899 188 895 0.69 85-89 40 560 63 581 104 141 0.38 90-94 14 875 25 495 40 370 0.15 95+ 4 932 10 026 14 958 0.05Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPer cent 0–14 3 788 616 3 568 158 7 356 774 27.02 15–64 9 034 671 9 215 986 18 250 657 67.03 65+ 726 465 894 034 1 620 499 5.95
Age groupMaleFemaleTotal% Total 16 085 704 15 979 037 32 064 741 100 0–4 1 392 960 1 317 350 2 710 310 8.45 5–9 1 420 995 1 327 513 2 748 508 8.57 10–14 1 442 288 1 349 218 2 791 506 8.71 15–19 1 427 367 1 342 856 2 770 223 8.64 20–24 1 372 148 1 306 480 2 678 628 8.35 25–29 1 322 783 1 281 779 2 604 562 8.12 30–34 1 294 114 1 275 147 2 569 261 8.01 35–39 1 180 244 1 177 120 2 357 364 7.35 40–44 1 042 646 1 050 897 2 093 543 6.53 45–49 946 494 963 933 1 910 427 5.96 50–54 877 401 903 878 1 781 279 5.56 55–59 747 504 781 852 1 529 356 4.77 60–64 574 077 613 380 1 187 457 3.70 65-69 409 138 450 856 859 994 2.68 70-74 282 267 326 025 608 292 1.90 75-79 179 631 221 308 400 939 1.25 80-84 101 653 140 040 241 693 0.75 85-89 48 109 81 333 129 442 0.40 90-94 17 947 43 357 61 304 0.19 95-99 4 924 19 593 24 517 0.08 100+ 1 014 5 122 6 136 0.02Age groupMaleFemaleTotalPer cent 0–14 4 256 243 3 994 081 8 250 324 25.73 15–64 10 784 778 10 697 322 21 482 100 67.00 65+ 1 044 683 1 287 634 2 332 317 7.27
Vital statistics Registered births and deaths
YearPopulationLive birthsDeathsNatural increaseCrude birth rateCrude death rateRate of natural increaseTFR 1948 183 590 59 934 123 656 1949 198 773 57 477 141 296 1950 5,034,838 212 096 54 397 157 699 42.1 10.8 31.3 1951 224 553 56 757 167 796 1952 230 703 57 115 173 588 1953 250 943 53 945 196 998 1954 262 134 56 846 205 288 1955 272 433 59 348 213 085 1956 278 072 59 339 218 733 1957 284 080 61 918 222 162 1958 291 747 59 037 232 710 1959 324 739 58 988 265 751 1960 338 199 55 354 282 845 1961 7,523,999 344 989 55 585 289 404 45.9 7.4 38.5 1962 341 324 54 960 286 364 1963 353 546 58 474 295 072 1964 365 340 60 912 304 428 1965 379 530 61 568 317 962 1966 376 367 61 691 314 676 1967 407 986 62 111 345 875 1968 384 678 64 592 320 086 1969 397 003 67 784 329 219 1970 392 583 68 493 324 090 1971 10,721,522 405 964 70 478 335 486 37.9 6.6 31.3 1972 406 120 73 379 332 741 1973 405 455 76 333 329 122 1974 433 397 73 555 359 842 1975 446 110 74 388 371 722 1976 462 233 75 088 387 145 1977 465 332 74 257 391 075 1978 475 824 72 584 403 240 1979 481 349 74 649 406 700 1980 493 009 77 018 415 991 1981 14,516,735 497 270 80 346 416 924 34.3 5.5 28.8 1982 510 532 77 021 433 511 1983 514 381 75 743 438 638 1984 503 973 78 091 425 882 1985 502 329 78 938 423 391 1986 504 278 77 647 426 631 1987 516 773 80 322 436 451 1988 522 392 81 442 440 950 1989 529 015 84 761 444 254 1990 18,105,265 577 976 89 830 488 146 31.9 5.0 26.9 1991 602 024 88 634 513 390 1992 559 950 90 566 469 384 1993 524 387 89 105 435 282 1994 547 819 96 696 451 123 1995 520 584 92 273 428 311 1996 497 975 93 839 404 136 22.3 4.2 18.1 1997 516 616 94 334 422 282 22.7 4.1 18.6 1998 501 808 98 624 403 184 21.6 4.2 17.4 1999 527 888 101 907 425 981 22.1 4.3 17.8 2000 544 416 103 255 441 161 22.4 4.2 18.2 2001 23,232,553 529 552 107 867 421 685 21.4 4.4 17.0 2002 492 678 105 388 387 290 19.5 4.2 15.3 2003 555 614 118 562 437 052 21.6 4.6 17.0 2004 637 799 114 480 523 319 24.4 4.4 20.0 2005 665 997 110 301 555 696 25.1 4.2 20.9 2006 646 225 115 348 530 877 23.9 4.3 19.6 2007 615 371 118 594 496 777 22.4 4.3 18.1 2008 581 480 124 062 457 418 20.8 4.4 16.4 2009 593 845 123 530 470 315 20.9 4.4 16.6 2010 591 303 130 597 460 706 20.7 4.6 16.1 2.50 2011 27,722,793 615 132 136 803 478 329 21.3 4.7 16.5 2.58 2012 619 530 142 988 476 542 21.1 4.9 16.2 2.56 2013 597 902 147 901 450 001 20.1 5.0 15.1 2.46 2014 30,070,000 597 773 159 239 438 534 19.9 5.3 14.6 2.44 2015 30,489,000 600,875 163,367 437,508 19.6 5.3 14.3 2.43 2016 30,770,000 642,664 185,697 456,967 20.9 6.0 14.9 2.57 2017 30,570,000 579,349 188,034 391,315 19.0 6.2 12.8 2.32 2018 29,810,000 485,631 176,539 309,092 16.3 5.9 10.4 2.01 2019 28,940,000 455,670 133,072 322,598 15.7 4.6 11.1 1.85 2020 28,440,000 442,091 204,848 237,243 15.5 7.2 8.3 1.84 2021 28,237,826 429,761 222,005 207,756 15.2 7.9 7.3 1.79 2022 28,213,017 423,888 207,270 216,618 15.0 7.3 7.7 1.75 2023 28,300,854 426,984 213,955 213,029 15.1 7.6 7.5 1.73 2024 28,405,543 432,648 218,109 214,539 15.2 7.7 7.6 1.72 2025 28,516,896 436,134 222,194 213,940 15.3 7.8 7.5 1.70
Venezuela Statistical Office stopped providing vital statistics data to the United Nations Statistics Division in 2019, births and death data after 2019 are estimations published by the UN population prospects.
UN estimates Registration of vital events in Venezuela is not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.
PeriodLive birthsper yearDeathsper yearNatural changeper yearCBR*CDR*NC*TFR*IMR*Life expectancy total males females 1950–1955 263,000 69,000 193,000 46.5 12.6 34.1 6.46 107 54.3 52.9 55.8 1955–1960 309,000 73,000 236,000 44.9 10.9 34.2 6.46 89 57.1 55.6 58.7 1960–1965 375,000 77,000 298,000 45.1 9.5 35.7 6.66 73 59.9 58.2 61.7 1965–1970 397,000 76,000 320,000 40.1 8.0 32.4 5.90 60 62.6 60.5 64.9 1970–1975 411,000 76,000 334,000 35.1 6.7 28.6 4.94 49 65.0 62.4 67.7 1975–1980 476,000 81,000 395,000 34.2 5.8 28.4 4.47 39 67.3 64.6 70.4 1980–1985 519,000 89,000 430,000 32.0 5.3 26.5 3.96 34 68.9 66.0 72.0 1985–1990 561,000 92,000 468,000 30.3 4.9 25.3 3.65 27 70.5 67.7 73.5 1990–1995 563,000 101,000 461,000 26.9 4.8 22.1 3.25 23 71.5 68.7 74.5 1995–2000 569,000 114,000 455,000 24.5 4.9 19.7 2.94 21 72.1 69.3 75.1 2000–2005 585,000 129,000 456,000 23.0 5.1 17.9 2.72 19 72.7 69.9 75.8 2005–2010 598,000 142,000 456,000 21.5 5.4 16.1 2.55 17 73.7 70.8 76.8 2010–2015 601,000 159,000 442,000 20.0 5.9 14.1 2.40 15 74.5 71.7 77.6 2015–2020 595,000 178,000 417,000 18.0 7.0 11.0 2.28 13 75.3 72.5 78.4 2020–2025 16.8 7.3 9.5 2.18 2025–2030 16.5 7.4 9.1 2.10 * CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)
Life expectancy
total population: 76.2 years male: 73.2 years female: 79.3 years (2018 est.)
Ethnic groups
According to an autosomal DNA genetic study conducted in 2008 by the University of Brasília (UNB), the composition of Venezuela's population is: 60.60% of European contribution, 23% of Amerindian contribution and 16.30% of African contribution. According to the Statistics National Institute of Venezuela, individuals of mixed race constitute the largest demographic group nationwide, comprising approximately half of the population (50%). Following closely are individuals of white ethnicity, accounting for around 43% of the population and predominantly distributed across various regions of the country. These regions include traditional destinations for European immigrants, such as the Coastal Mountain Range, Andean cordillera, the Caribbean islands, and significant urban centers.
While afro-descendants are dispersed throughout the country, comprising around 3.6% of the population, they tend to be concentrated in areas with historical ties to colonial-era slavery, such as the north-central coast (Barlovento region, Ocumare de la Costa) and the southern region of Lake Maracaibo Lowlands. Over time, some black communities have migrated to larger metropolitan areas during the post-colonial period.
Indigenous populations primarily inhabit the southern half of Venezuela, the region known as Guayana south-along the Orinoco River. Additionally, Indigenous communities can be found in the Guajira Peninsula and the eastern part of the country. Together, Indigenous peoples represent approximately 2% of the total population in Venezuela.
Mixed-Race/Moreno Venezuelans