Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) won the election, triumphing by securing 99 seats in contrast to the United Social Party of Venezuela that managed 46.
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The state electoral board has yet to officially confirm the full results.
“We are here, with morals and ethics, to recognize these adverse results”, Maduro said in his nation address.
“I feel at peace with my conscience because everything we have done has been for the protection of the country”, he said.
Maduro, 53, quickly accepted defeat in a speech early on Monday that calmed fears of violence in a country long riven by political strife.
“The sheer scale of its victory could potentially give the opposition real teeth as it tries to alter the course of government policy under Mr Maduro”, said Fiona Mackie, Latin America analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit.
“The world has to realize that Venezuela is broken in so many places, economically and institutionally, that the task ahead of repairing it is enormous”, Davidow said. “The country wants change”, he said on social media.
It was also a major blow to Latin America’s left, which gained power in the wake of Chavez’s ascent but has struggled more recently in the face of a region-wide economic slowdown and voter fatigue in some countries with rampant corruption. But on Sunday night he softened his tone, urging his supporters to calmly regroup from the loss.
The government dismisses those charges as lies and frequently recalls Washington’s support for a short-lived 2002 coup against Chavez.
“Now everything will just get worse”.
“I can’t see this government finishing its term because it is too weak”, said opposition leader Henry Ramos, touted as a possible leader for the new assembly.
“This is Nicolas Maduro’s defeat, not Chavez’s”, said Humberto Lopez, 57, a diehard Chavista well-known to Venezuelans for walking the streets dressed as Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
Some opposition figures caution that the result has more to do with anger at Venezuela’s woes than an embrace of the opposition.
Underlining the new mood in Venezuela, videos online showed five prominent socialist politicians – including Chavez’s brother Adan – being booed at voting centres on Sunday, with crowds yelling: “The government will fall!” or “Thief!”
Since the late Hugo Chavez swept into power in 1999, the opposition has never held a branch of government.
The opposition is likely to use its newfound leverage to pass an amnesty for dozens of opponents jailed during last year’s protests. The MUD has vowed to seek to remove Maduro from office, and make sweeping changes to the constitution.
Reining in Maduro, who became president after Chavez died in 2013, will be tough.
The new National Assembly will sit for the first time on January 5.
Their work will be easier if they obtain a two-thirds majority of 112 lawmakers – still a possibility if enough of the undecided races break the opposition’s way.
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Associated Press writers Fabiola Sanchez and Jorge Rueda contributed to this report.
