Venezuela’s August inflation slows, but annual price growth remains above 600%

Venezuela’s inflation rate slowed in August, but the cost of essential goods continued to rise sharply. Cedice Libertad’s Public Spending Observatory measured monthly inflation at 6.99% in bolivars and 0.77% in dollars.

A family of three in Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia needed 744,176.63 bolivars, or $940.01, to cover a basket of 61 goods and services. The basket equaled 3.91 comprehensive salaries, based on a reference income of 190,130.80 bolivars.

Cedice Libertad said the monthly increase in the national currency had slowed from the 16.85% recorded in June and July and returned close to May’s 6.77%. The organization cautioned that the decline in year-on-year inflation did not reflect a structural recovery. It attributed the change partly to a statistical base effect after prices jumped 28.31% in August 2025 following an official exchange-rate adjustment of about 22%.

“

The pace of price increases in the national currency slowed compared with the previous months, June and July, when it reached 16.85%, and returned to levels close to those observed in May, at 6.77%.

Inflation still reached 202% in bolivars during the first eight months of 2026. Year-on-year growth stood at 641.35% in bolivars and 36.47% in dollars, keeping pressure on household budgets.

Price movements differed across the three cities. Caracas recorded the largest monthly increase in bolivars, at 8.96%, while its dollar increase was 2.63%. Maracaibo’s monthly increases were 6.34% in bolivars and 0.16% in dollars. Valencia recorded 5.92% inflation in bolivars, while prices measured in dollars fell 0.24%.

Maracaibo nevertheless had the most expensive basket, at 776,092.13 bolivars, or $980.32. Valencia followed at $966.58, while Caracas stood at $873.12. Maracaibo also led the 12-month figures, with inflation of 707.47% in bolivars and 48.64% in dollars.

“

The decline in the year-on-year inflation rate does not reflect a structural improvement in economic conditions, but rather a statistical base effect.