Structure, level and inequality of household consumption expenditure in Venezuela, 2019-2023

The recent evolution of household expenditures in Venezuela shows changes in consumption patterns, not only over time but also among the different segments of households classified according to their poverty status. This article summarizes the behavior of household consumption spending in Venezuela, with special attention to expenditures for food. The analysis is based on data collected through the Living Conditions Surveys (ENCOVI) for the 2019-2023 period. In addition, the level of poverty and inequality among households is estimated, based on the behavior of household expenditures. These are areas in which there is scarce literature in Venezuela. The results show that a significant increase in inequality in household spending levels has accompanied the relative reduction in the very high levels of poverty identified in 2019, especially in spending on food goods. Another relevant finding is that the greater inequality is due more to the asymmetries within the different types of poor households, especially with the extremely poor than to the differences between poor and non-poor households. That is to say, intragroup inequalities have grown significantly more than intergroup inequalities. Although this is a paper that emphasizes description rather than an explanation of the determination of expenditure, poverty levels, and inequality among households, it highlights structural changes in income distribution and consumption patterns in Venezuelan households. These issues are sufficiently relevant to justify further analytical deepening of the causes and implications of these structural changes on economic growth and socio-political stability in a country that requires a profound transformation of its fundamentals.