Venezuela's strategic role in the Italian economy between emigration and trade in crisis

Between Venezuela and Italy cultural and commercial relations are historic. And, yes, with the regime of Nicolás Maduro they have weakened, but not broken down completely. According to the Italian Embassy in Caracas, there are around 160,000 Italian citizens registered at the two consulates (Caracas and Maracaibo, on the Atlantic coast) and it is estimated that there are over 1.5 million Venezuelans with Italian ancestry (out of an estimated total of around 30 million inhabitants). If we look at trade between the two countries, this has continued to grow until 2024. It is only in 2025 that we begin to see signs of weakness in Rome's sales to Caracas, due to a Venezuelan economy heading for recession.

The Italian presence in Venezuela has historical roots, at least since the Second World War, when Venezuela - driven by the oil boom - became one of the most attractive destinations for Italian emigration to the Americas, especially from Campania, Sicily and Abruzzo. A presence, the Italian one in Venezuela, that is second only to that in Argentina and Brazil. in South America And a presence that has left deep cultural roots, given that the South American country has among the highest consumption of pasta in the world, after Italy.

The Cámara de Comercio Venezolano-Italiana, founded in 1954, has six regional offices and now has 459 members, partly because the Venezuelan crisis and instability have led a part of the community to move to other countries or has chosen to return. Suffice it to think of the Venezuelan residents in Italy, who arrived in 2025 at 16,981, compared to 5,595 in 2013, when Maduro came to power. Italian emigration has been the backbone of the country's economy for years: since the 1960s, around a third of Venezuela's non-oil-related industries were owned or administered by Italians and their descendants.

Trade between Italy and Venezuela continued to strengthen at least until 2024, when imports (mainly oil) reached 283 million euro, against exports of 178 million (mainly machinery and foodstuffs). And if, in the first months of 2025, imports continued to grow (+2.1% over the same period in 2024), exports slowed down sharply (-32.4%), mainly due to the crisis that Caracas is going through and that is affecting domestic consumption: the International Monetary Fund estimates a GDP in 2026 at -3% after +0.5% in 2025 and +5.3% in 2024.