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The United Nations said on Friday that the number of Venezuelans who have left their country in recent years has surpassed four million, Al Jazeera reports.

The UN refugee agency said the number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants rose by one million after November, indicating a rapid escalation in the months since dozens of nations recognised opposition leader Juan Guado as the country's interim leader.

US-backed Guaido invoked the constitution in January to assume the interim presidency, declaring Nicolas Maduro's 2018 re-election illegitimate. Maduro, who maintains the support of several countries including Russia, China and Cuba, accuses Guaido and the United States of attempting a coup.

The "alarming" figure highlights the urgent need to support host countries, mainly in Latin America - led by Colombia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Brazil and Argentina - the UN refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a joint statement issued in Geneva.

The UN refugee agency said that more than 1.3 million Venezuelans are in Colombia, while 768,000 are in Peru.

Venezuelans are fleeing violence, hyperinflation, unemployment and food and medicine shortages.

Earlier this year, the country faced numerous power outages, exacerbating issues within the country's already failing infrastructure.