June 1, 2015 8:43AM 

# Venezuela’s Inflation: Up, Up, and Away 

By [Steve H. Hanke](https://www.cato.org/people/steve-h-hanke) 

---

<a class="js-popover-trigger cursor-pointer popover-trigger" data-bs-placement="bottom" data-bs-trigger="click" id="popover-trigger"> 

SHARE 

</a> 

Like the 2009 Oscar award-winning Pixar film *Up*, Venezuela’s annual inflation rate has soared sky high (see the chart below). On December 31, 2014, Venezuela’s bolivar traded at a VEF/USD rate of 171 and the implied annual inflation rate stood at 169%. In May of 2015, Venezuela’s bolivar collapsed and the implied annual inflation rate broke the 500% barrier. On May 28, 2015, the VEF/USD rate was 413, a 59% depreciation in the bolivar since January 1st. Not surprisingly, the implied annual inflation rate stood at a staggering 495%.

![Venezuela's Annual Inflation Rates](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/venezuelas_annual_inflation_rates.png?itok=rRvKNzMM) 

##### Related Tags 

[Inflation](https://www.cato.org/inflation) 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).