Extreme poverty in Venezuela rises to 76.6% - study

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks across hanged clothes on a vacant lot where families are settling since they cannot afford to pay rent anymore, in the municipality of Sucre, near Caracas, Venezuela June 12, 2020. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero

CARACAS (Reuters) - Around three-fourths of Venezuelans now live in extreme poverty as the once-prosperous OPEC nation's hyperinflationary economic collapse continued for a seventh straight year, according to a study published on Wednesday.

The 2020-2021 National Survey of Living Conditions (ENCOVI), conducted by researchers at Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB), found that of the country's 28 million residents, 76.6% live in extreme poverty, up from 67.7% last year.