Venezuela's cost of living was already spiralling. Then came a natural disaster

31 July 2026

On June 24, Venezuela, a country already engulfed in political and economic instability, was hit with a major 7.2 magnitude earthquake which released the energy equivalent to roughly 1,000 kilotons of TNT. Just 39 seconds later, a second earthquake struck the country, releasing nearly three times the energy of the first.

These earthquakes were the strongest to hit in over a century and it's not hard to imagine that this disaster will worsen already existing economic problems. Last week the World Bank estimated that the earthquakes have resulted in almost $20 billion USD worth of direct physical damage – and 47% of the total damage was to residential buildings. This will no doubt affect costs of housing... a necessity that was already increasing well before the disaster.

A month after the quakes, Euronews also reported that the number of families left without housing stood at almost 18,000 and around 23,000 people remained in temporary locations set up in the capital Caracas and La Guaira.

What our data says

To see how hard Venezuelans already had it before the disaster, WageIndicator’s Cost of Living data has been tracking quarterly price changes in Venezuela on the ground for years. At the back end of 2025, housing costs rose 41% from Q3 to Q4. Then at the start of 2026, the prices rose 9% into Q1.

The latest data available from just before the earthquakes shows a huge 57% increase in housing costs from Q1 into Q2 this year.

WageIndicator’s Cost of Living database is able to break down prices into specific categories: housing and utilities, food, drinking water, phone and internet, clothing, transport, education, healthcare, and a provision for unexpected events.

With data backed by real fieldwork, WageIndicator's data collectors permanently and continuously track rent and housing cost data in close to 200 countries – updated every financial quarter. The result is a ground-level picture of what families actually pay, using WageIndicator's own tried and tested methodology.

When it comes to food, data collectors physically go to local markets and shops to record the actual prices of over 70 food items. In Venezuela, food prices rose 26% from Q3 to Q4 in 2025. Then at the start of 2026, the prices rose 42% into Q1. And the latest data, from Q1 to Q2, food costs rose 40% before the earthquakes.

These figures feed directly into WageIndicator's Living Wage calculations – the minimum a worker needs to earn to cover basic costs for themselves and their family. The data is also collected across a wide range of regions within each country, capturing richer and more diverse information to reflect how prices change depending on where people live and shop.

Venezuelans were already paying a steep price for daily life before the earthquakes struck. What the disaster adds to that price is still unknown – but WageIndicator will be watching closely as the data comes in.