Venezuela makes up only 0.24% of Brazilian trade

The loss of relevance is also seen in Brazilian imports from the neighboring country, which declined from 3.86% in 2007 to 0.12% in 2025.

In absolute terms, Brazilian exports to Venezuela stood at nearly $5 billion a year between 2011 and 2014, a level also close to that recorded in 2007 and 2008. Since 2013, however, there has been a sharp slowdown.

Last year, Brazil’s exports to Venezuela totaled less than $1 billion ($838.2 million), something that had not occurred since 2020. The figure represents a drop of nearly 30% compared with 2024. On the import side, the value fell 17.3% over the same comparison period, to $349.1 million.

The decline in bilateral trade follows the weakening of Venezuela’s economy, specialists say.

In releasing the 2025 trade balance figures, the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services stated that “trade with Venezuela experienced marked fluctuations between 1997 and 2025,” adding that “the country’s relative weight declined over time.”

Venezuela is currently only the 52nd-largest destination for Brazilian exports and the 61st-largest supplier of Brazilian imports. Its 0.24% share of Brazil’s exports in 2025 was far below that of the main South American countries.

Argentina leads the region with a 5.2% share and ranks third globally, behind only China (28.7%) and the U.S. (10.8%). Chile (2.1%) is second in South America, followed by Paraguay (1.2%), Uruguay and Colombia (both at 1%), and Peru (0.9%). Outside the region, Venezuela’s share of Brazilian exports is comparable to that of countries such as Israel (0.2%), Bulgaria (0.2%) and Australia (0.3%).

In Venezuela’s foreign trade environment, economic sanctions and the embargo on oil sales to the U.S. weigh heavily. The restrictions affect crude oil exports and the import of raw materials.

Oil production in Venezuela fell from more than 3 million barrels per day in 2000 to less than 1 million barrels per day in 2025.

“Bilateral trade between Brazil and Venezuela showed marked fluctuations between 1997 and 2025. The peak in exports was reached in 2008, when they exceeded $5.1 billion. Brazilian imports from Venezuela peaked in 2000, surpassing $1.3 billion,” the ministry said.

Significant reduction

The ministry’s assessment points to “a significant reduction in bilateral trade” starting in 2013, “culminating in historic lows between 2019 and 2020.” “Total trade, which had reached its highest level in 2013 (more than $6 billion), lost momentum in subsequent years,” the statement said.

The drop in Brazilian shipments mainly reflects Venezuela’s payment difficulties, according to Welber Barral, a partner at BMJ and former Foreign Trade secretary.

“Today, what Brazil exports is almost always paid for in cash and includes some intracompany transactions, which ends up limiting the scale of trade between the two countries,” he said.

Livio Ribeiro, an associate researcher at the Brazilian Institute of Economics of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV Ibre) and co-founder of consultancy BRCG, describes trade with Venezuela as “irrelevant” at present, after the losses suffered by the Venezuelan economy in recent years.

“In trade terms, the impact is extremely limited,” Ribeiro said.

The small scale of bilateral trade is also highlighted by Lia Valls, a professor at Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ) and an associate researcher at FGV Ibre. She believes the low figures suggest there will be no impact on Venezuela’s trade relations with Brazil or even with the rest of the world. “Venezuela’s trade with Brazil and with the world is very small. These are very low values,” she said.

According to the classification used in the ministry’s study, Venezuela’s share of Brazil’s total foreign trade remained “modest” for most of the period since 1997, when the historical series begins. The neighboring country’s share of Brazilian exports has remained below 0.4% since 2017.

The data indicate, according to MDIC, that “despite its historical relevance, Venezuela’s relative weight declined over time.”