world at 69%. By 2016, the media reported that Venezuela was suffering an economic collapse. The IMF estimated a 500% inflation rate and a 10% contraction in GDP. History Maduro administration In November 2016, Venezuela entered a period of hyperinflation. In December 2016, monthly inflation exceeded 50% for the 30th consecutive day, meaning the economy was officially experiencing hyperinflation, making Venezuela the 57th country to be added to the Hanke-Krus World Hyperinflation Table. The inflation rate reached 4,000% in 2017. The same year, a trend began in Venezuela in which gold farming in cybergames, such as RuneScape, became an acquirable way to obtain hard currency. In many cases, they made more money than salaried workers in Venezuela, despite earning just a few dollars per day. During the Christmas season in 2017, some shops no longer used price tags; since prices inflated so quickly, customers were required to ask staff how much each item was. In early 2018, the Venezuelan government "essentially stopped" producing inflation estimates. In May 2019, the BCV released economic data for the first time since 2015. It reported that the inflation rate was 274% in 2016, 863% in 2017, and 130,060% in 2018. The new report suggested a contraction of the economy by more than half in five years, described by the Financial Times as "one of the biggest contractions in Latin American history". According to undisclosed sources from Reuters, the release of this data was due to pressure from China, an ally of Nicolás Maduro. One of the sources claimed that this disclosure might bring Venezuela into compliance with the IMF, making it harder to support Juan Guaidó during the presidential crisis. At the time, the IMF was not able to support the validity of the data as they had not been able to contact the authorities. 2018 inflation estimate In 2018, the IMF estimated that Venezuela's inflation rate would reach 1,000,000% by the end of the year. This forecast was criticized by economist Steve Hanke, who claimed that the IMF had released a "bogus forecast" because "no one has ever been able to accurately forecast the course or the duration of an episode of hyperinflation. But that has not stopped the IMF from offering inflation forecasts for Venezuela that have proven to be wildly inaccurate". According to Hanke, Venezuela's inflation rate on 31 July 2018 was 33,151%, suggesting that "Venezuela is now experiencing the 23rd