If there is one statistic that captures both Venezuela’s economic problem and its opportunity, it may be this: during the second quarter of 2026, the country’s manufacturers were without grid electricity for the equivalent of 44% of their normal working hours.
According to the latest quarterly survey from Conindustria, Venezuela’s principal industrial association, manufacturers reported an average of 214 hours without electricity out of 488 working hours during the quarter. Companies experienced an average of 57 unplanned outages, or roughly five every week. 1
Coindustria is Venezuela’s leading industrial business association, representing the country’s manufacturing sector.
And the situation is getting worse. Compared with the first quarter of 2026, the number of hours affected by electricity failures increased 68%, while the number of outages increased 18%.
The most interesting part of the Conindustria report is resilience. Despite extraordinary infrastructure constraint of the electricity crisis, Venezuelan industry is still growing.
The national average also disguises enormous regional differences. Manufacturers in Zulia reported 333 hours without electricity, while the Andes recorded 295 and the Central-West region 263. Caracas, by comparison, recorded 82 hours.
Electricity has consequently become the second-largest constraint on Venezuelan manufacturing, cited by 68% of the industrial companies surveyed. Only excessive taxes and related fiscal burdens, at 70%, ranked higher.
But perhaps the most interesting part of the Conindustria report is what happened despite the electricity crisis.
Private manufacturing production still grew 6.5% year-over-year during the second quarter, following growth of 9.9% in the first quarter. That produced first-half growth of 8.1%. Capacity utilization also increased to approximately 51.7%.
In other words, Venezuelan industry is growing while operating under extraordinary infrastructure constraints.
The 214 hours without grid electricity should not be interpreted as 214 hours of completely lost production. Many larger manufacturers have adapted. They operate diesel generators, maintain partial self-generation capacity, shift production schedules, rearrange shifts and change manufacturing processes around electricity availability.
The electricity crisis is not simply a quality-of-life problem. It is a constraint on national productive capacity.
But these adaptations carry enormous costs. Generators require capital, fuel and maintenance. Production interruptions leave workers and machinery idle. Manufacturing runs are disrupted. Equipment can be damaged. And smaller companies are particularly disadvantaged because they often lack the capital required to build their own backup power infrastructure.
This makes the Conindustria numbers important for understanding Venezuela’s broader economic recovery. The electricity crisis is not simply a quality-of-life problem. It is a constraint on national productive capacity.
There is also an encouraging implication. Venezuela does not need to wait for new industries to emerge before economic output can increase. A substantial industrial base already exists. Companies have employees, factories, machinery, customers and management teams. What many of them lack is something much more basic: reliable electricity.
Restoring dependable power could therefore produce an unusually rapid economic dividend.
The question is no longer simply how much electricity Venezuela needs. The more important question may be: How much additional economic activity could be unleashed simply by keeping the electricity on?
The Conindustria numbers provide a compelling place to start looking for the answer.
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