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# Venezuela's Food Basket Rose 12.5 Per Cent in August. Georgetown's Food Prices Fell 0.5 Per Cent.
- URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/venezuela-food-basket-august-2026-guyana-food-prices-cpi/
- Published: 2026-09-22T11:17:54.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T14:22:13.000Z
- Description: A Venezuelan family of five needed US$755.36 to eat in August, up 12.5 per cent in bolívares and 3.8 per cent in dollars. Georgetown food prices fell 0.5 per cent and were 4.4 per cent higher than a year earlier.
- Author: Theon Alleyne
- Tags: Business, Guyana, Venezuela, CELAC

**Quick summary:** Venezuela's family food basket cost US$755.36 in August 2026, up 12.5 per cent in bolívares and 3.8 per cent in dollars, the teachers' federation research centre Cendas-FVM reported. In Georgetown, food prices fell 0.5 per cent in August and were 4.4 per cent higher than a year earlier, Guyana's Bureau of Statistics reported on 22 September.

By LCN Business Desk

Feeding a family of five in Venezuela cost 581,625.07 bolívares in August, equivalent to US$755.36, for a basket of 60 basic products, the Centro de Documentación y Análisis Social de la Federación Venezolana de Maestros (Cendas-FVM) reported, according to [Tal Cual](https://talcualdigital.com/canasta-alimentaria-familiar-supera-los-755-este-monto-es-necesario-solo-para-comer/?ref=lacaribenanews.com). In July the same basket cost US$727.89\. The rise was 12.5 per cent in bolívares and 3.8 per cent in dollars, and over twelve months 610.7 per cent in bolívares and 33.8 per cent in dollars, [El Impulso](https://www.elimpulso.com/2026/09/21/cendas-fvm-costo-de-los-alimentos-en-agosto-costo-us-75536-equivalente-a-581-62507-bolivares-21sep/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) reported.

In Guyana the same month moved the other way. The Georgetown Consumer Price Index fell 0.2 per cent in August, and the food category fell 0.5 per cent, led by lower prices for vegetables (down 2.0 per cent) and fruit (down 1.2 per cent), the [Bureau of Statistics](https://statisticsguyana.gov.gy/subjects/price-indices/consumer-price-index-georgetown-guyana-august-2026/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) said in its August release, published on Tuesday. Over twelve months, food prices in Georgetown were up 4.4 per cent and all prices 3.6 per cent.

## How do the two countries compare?

| Measure, August 2026           | Venezuela                                                  | Guyana                                         |
| ------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Monthly change, local currency | +12.5% (food basket, bolívares)                            | \-0.5% (food CPI, Georgetown)                  |
| Monthly change, US dollars     | +3.8% (food basket)                                        | Guyana dollar stabilised against the US dollar |
| Twelve-month change            | +610.7% in bolívares; +33.8% in dollars (food basket)      | +4.4% (food CPI); +3.6% (all items)            |
| Cost of feeding a family       | US$755.36 a month for five people, 60 products             | Not published as a basket cost                 |
| Minimum wage against food      | 130 bolívares, about US$0.16, covering 0.02% of the basket | Not comparable on the same basis               |

Sources: Cendas-FVM via Tal Cual and El Impulso; Guyana Bureau of Statistics, August and [July](https://statisticsguyana.gov.gy/subjects/price-indices/consumer-price-index-georgetown-guyana-july-2026/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) 2026 releases.

The two figures are not the same measure. Cendas-FVM prices a fixed basket of 60 foods for a family of five each month; Guyana's Bureau of Statistics publishes a weighted consumer price index for Georgetown, in which food is one category. They can be compared in direction and scale, not point for point.

## Why do the bolívar and dollar figures differ so much in Venezuela?

Because the currency is falling. A basket that rose 12.5 per cent in bolívares but 3.8 per cent in dollars in one month means the bolívar lost value against the dollar in the same period, and over twelve months the gap is between 610.7 per cent and 33.8 per cent. The minimum wage has been 130 bolívares a month since March 2022, about US$0.16, which covers 0.02 per cent of the basket; a household needed 4,474 minimum wages or 3.14 of the government's US$240 bonus payments to buy it in August, El Impulso reported. The largest cost groups were milk, cheese and eggs (US$171.76) and fruit and vegetables (US$156.01), and pulses rose 60.63 per cent in the month.

In Guyana the exchange rate has been held steady, which is why local-currency and dollar measures of prices move together. The International Monetary Fund judged in July that the stabilised exchange rate regime remains appropriate, as La Caribeña News reported in [The IMF Says Investment Imports Keep Guyana's Currency Market Tight](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/imf-guyana-fx-market-tight-investment-imports-measures-2026/). The same regime sits alongside a queue of more than US$200 million in unfilled requests for foreign currency, reported in [Banks Told the President US$200 Million Is Unfilled](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-foreign-exchange-backlog-us200m-banks-asgar-ally-2026/), after two years of business complaints that La Caribeña News [set out in full](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-us-dollar-shortage-two-years-business-complaints-record-2026/).

## Are Guyana's food prices rising?

Over the year, yes; in August, no. Food prices rose 6.7 per cent between December 2025 and June 2026, and consumer prices 4.4 per cent, according to the government's 2026 Mid-Year Report as reported by [HGPTV](https://www.hgptv.com/food-prices-up-6-7-govt-report-reveals-cost-of-living-pressure/?ref=lacaribenanews.com), which attributed the rise to imported inflation, stronger demand for food, retail markups and unfavourable weather. Agriculture, forestry and fishing contracted 0.5 per cent in the first half after prolonged rain waterlogged farms, and other crops fell 6.4 per cent. The same report warns that El Niño could bring below-normal rainfall and prolonged dry spells later in the year; La Caribeña News reported that the last comparable El Niño cut Guyana's rice crop, in [NOAA Puts a 69% Chance on a Record El Niño](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/noaa-puts-a-69-chance-on-a-record-el-nino-the-last-comparable-one-cut-guyanas-rice-crop-by-37/).

Food fell by 0.03 per cent in July and by 0.5 per cent in August, according to the Bureau's July and August releases, and the twelve-month food rate eased from 5.1 per cent in July to 4.4 per cent in August. Condiments and spices kept rising, by 2.6 per cent in July and 1.5 per cent in August. How vegetable prices travel from farm to Georgetown stalls was the subject of La Caribeña News's report [Wakenaam Farmers Produce Big, But Prices Squeeze Profit](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/wakenaam-farmers-prices-georgetown/).

## What does a basket of fresh food cost in Georgetown?

The Guyana Marketing Corporation's market prices for Bourda and Stabroek markets were reported in detail by the produce-trade news site [Fructidor](https://fructidor.com/en/news/news-detail/22aac851-3632-4c0d-a082-f6221373b7ef?ref=lacaribenanews.com) on 14 July 2025, which compared them with 2021\. Fructidor reported that food prices at the two markets rose by more than 75 per cent on average over that period. It gave prices in Guyana dollars for 12 fresh foods, and a list of one pound or one unit of each is set out below.

| Item                  | Unit     | 2021 (G$) | July 2025 (G$) | Change |
| --------------------- | -------- | --------- | -------------- | ------ |
| Cabbage               | per lb   | 170       | 360            | +112%  |
| Pak-choi              | per hand | 47        | 100            | +113%  |
| Cucumber              | each     | 29        | 80             | +176%  |
| Corilla               | per lb   | 130       | 300            | +131%  |
| Wiri-wiri pepper      | per lb   | 190       | 400            | +111%  |
| Hot pepper            | per lb   | 280       | 400            | +43%   |
| Cayenne banana        | per lb   | 200       | 400            | +100%  |
| Apple banana          | per lb   | 110       | 260            | +136%  |
| Pineapple             | each     | 330       | 600            | +82%   |
| Eddo                  | per lb   | 90        | 200            | +122%  |
| Sweet potato          | per lb   | 100       | 200            | +100%  |
| Plantain              | per lb   | 110       | 180            | +64%   |
| One of each, 12 items |          | 1,786     | 3,480          | +95%   |

Source: Guyana Marketing Corporation market data for Bourda and Stabroek, as reported by Fructidor, 14 July 2025\. Totals and changes calculated by La Caribeña News.

On those prices, one of each of the 12 items cost G$1,786 in 2021 and G$3,480 in July 2025, a rise of 95 per cent, or about US$16.58 at the exchange rate Fructidor used. The list covers vegetables, fruit and ground provisions only; the market data reported does not include rice, flour, sugar, cooking oil, milk or meat, which make up most of a family's food bill, so it is not a full basket and cannot be set against Venezuela's 60-product total. Georgetown food prices as a whole were 4.4 per cent higher in August 2026 than a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Statistics.

In Venezuela, fruit and vegetables alone cost a family of five US$156.01 in August, according to Cendas-FVM.

## What do the two oil producers share?

Oil, sanctions exposure and imported food, in very different measures. Venezuela's oil is worked under US licences that exclude any Cuban counterparty, as La Caribeña News reported in [Washington Licensed Six Companies to Work Venezuela's Oil](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/venezuela-oil-licences-gl50c-celac-guyana-2026/). Caracas says it has pledged 65 billion barrels across 17 fields under a US oil deal, as La Caribeña News reported in [Venezuela Oil Deal: 65 Billion Barrels Pledged to US](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/venezuela-oil-deal-65-billion-barrels-pledged-to-us-caracas-2026/), and it has taken its energy talks to three CARICOM capitals since April, reported in [Venezuela Has Taken Its Energy Talks to Three CARICOM Capitals](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/venezuela-rodriguez-caricom-visits-guyana-trade-2026/).

Guyana's economy grew 33.3 per cent in the first half of 2026 on oil, as La Caribeña News reported in its [mid-year report coverage](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-gdp-first-half-2026-oil-non-oil-mid-year-report/), while its farm output fell in the rains. Remittances matter to both: La Caribeña News has reported how they have grown across the region, in [Remittances Nearly Doubled in a Decade](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/caribbean-remittances-haiti-ifad-idb-2026/), and El Impulso reported that the gap between the minimum wage and the basket leaves Venezuelan families depending on remittances, special bonuses and informal work.

In August a Venezuelan family needed US$27.47 more than in July to eat. Georgetown's food index went down.

### What the title card shows

- **US$755.36:** cost of Venezuela's family food basket, August 2026, 60 products for five people. Source: Cendas-FVM via Tal Cual.
- **+12.5% and +3.8%:** monthly rise in bolívares and in dollars. Source: El Impulso.
- **\-0.5%:** Georgetown food prices, August 2026 on July. Source: Bureau of Statistics.
- **+4.4%:** Georgetown food prices over twelve months to August 2026\. Source: Bureau of Statistics.
- **US$0.16:** Venezuela's monthly minimum wage at the August rate. Source: El Impulso.

## Frequently Asked Questions

How much does food cost in Venezuela?

Cendas-FVM priced the family food basket, 60 products for five people, at 581,625.07 bolívares or US$755.36 in August 2026, up 12.5 per cent in bolívares and 3.8 per cent in dollars on July.

Did food prices rise in Guyana in August 2026?

No. Food prices in Georgetown fell 0.5 per cent in August, according to the Bureau of Statistics, mainly because vegetables and fruit were cheaper. Over twelve months they were 4.4 per cent higher.

How much have market prices risen in Georgetown?

One pound or one unit each of 12 fresh foods at Bourda and Stabroek markets cost G$1,786 in 2021 and G$3,480 in July 2025, a rise of 95 per cent, on Guyana Marketing Corporation data reported by Fructidor.

What is Guyana's inflation rate?

The Georgetown Consumer Price Index rose 3.6 per cent in the twelve months to August 2026, with a twelve-month average of 3.5 per cent, according to the Bureau of Statistics.

Why is Venezuela's food inflation so much higher in bolívares than in dollars?

Because the bolívar lost value against the dollar. Over twelve months the basket rose 610.7 per cent in bolívares and 33.8 per cent in dollars.