The World Bank estimated on Thursday that the direct physical damages caused by the earthquakes on June 24 in Venezuela amounted to 19.6 billion dollars, according to an assessment published by the EFE agency, making this estimate the most comprehensive conducted to date regarding the disaster.
The organization prepared the report using the Global Rapid Damage Estimation methodology (GRADE) and warned that poorly financed reconstruction could hinder the country's economic recovery over the next decade.
The breakdown of the damages reveals that nearly half of the impact fell on housing: 9.3 billion dollars, equivalent to 47% of the total. Infrastructure suffered losses of 5.2 billion (27%) and non-residential buildings amounted to 5 billion (26%).
Geographically, the devastation was concentrated in a handful of territories. La Guaira and the Capital District absorbed nearly 47% of the total economic impact, while Miranda and Carabobo also incurred significant losses. Together, these four accounted for 85% of the damages estimated by the organization.
The figure far exceeds the initial international benchmark estimate: the United Nations Development Programme had calculated direct damages of 6.7 billion dollars just four days after the earthquake, equivalent to nearly 6% of Venezuela's gross domestic product.
The World Bank also issued a warning about the financial risk of reconstruction: if the projects are funded solely by reallocating resources from other investment projects, without increasing public and private investment, they may remain unfinished in ten years.
In that scenario, the productive capacity, the gross domestic product, and the consumption of the country would remain below pre-disaster levels until at least 2036.
The organization stated that it is working alongside the Venezuelan government, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean to define the necessary technical and financial support in the subsequent phases of assessment, recovery, and reconstruction.
The report comes at a time of significant institutional relevance: the World Bank had suspended its relations with Venezuela in 2019 during the international dispute over the recognition of the government then led by Nicolás Maduro. Just three months before the earthquake, in April 2026, the organization announced the resumption of those ties under the government of Delcy Rodríguez, which paved the way for the cooperation that is now being activated.
The human toll of the disaster continued to rise this Thursday. The official death toll reached 5,398 after adding 52 new fatalities, as reported by the President of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez. The double earthquake —with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5, occurring just 39 seconds apart— is among the most destructive in the country’s recent history.
"The effective recovery begins with reliable information," stated the World Bank Vice President for Latin America and the Caribbean, Susana Cordeiro Guerra, who emphasized that the assessment provides the Venezuelan government and its partners with an objective foundation for planning the reconstruction and reiterated the institution's commitment to support this process.
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