Venezuela - Economic sectors

The single most important sector in the Venezuelan economy is mining, which includes the large oil industry. In 1999, 24 percent of Venezuela's GDP was accounted for by industry (80 percent of which came from the oil industry), 71 percent by services, and just 5 percent by agriculture. Various government administrations have attempted to diversify the Venezuelan economy away from its dependence on oil, but, as indicated by the figures above, oil production continues to increase as a

percentage of GDP. Other minerals that can be found in abundance in Venezuela are iron, bauxite, and natural gas.

In 1995, the manufacturing sector accounted for 16.6 percent of GDP, dropping to 14.2 percent by 1999. The services sector, another source that could help reduce Venezuela's dependence on oil, has not reflected consistent growth in its contributions to the Venezuelan GDP. One exception to that is the transport and communications industry, which has shown a consistent annual growth from 1995 to 1999 (4.9 to 6.0 percent of GDP).