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EconomyEconomy - overview
Colombia's consistently sound economic policies and aggressive promotion of free trade agreements in recent years have bolstered its ability to face external shocks. Real GDP grew 5.7% in 2011 and inflation ended 2011 at 3.7%, continuing almost a decade of strong economic performance. All three major ratings agencies have upgraded Colombia''s investment grade. Nevertheless, Colombia depends heavily on oil exports, making it vulnerable to a drop in oil prices. Economic development is stymied by inadequate infrastructure, weakened further by recent flooding. Moreover, the unemployment rate of 10.8% in 2011 is still one of Latin America''s highest. The SANTOS Administration''s foreign policy has focused on bolstering Colombia''s commercial ties and boosting investment at home. The US-Colombia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was ratified by the US Congress in October 2011 and is pending implementation in 2012. Columbia has signed or is negotiating FTAs with a number of other countries, including Canada, Chile, Mexico, Switzerland, the EU, Venezuela, South Korea, Turkey, Japan, and Israel. Foreign direct investment - notably in the oil sector - reached a record $10 billion in 2008 but dropped to $7.2 billion in 2009, before beginning to recover in 2010, and it appears to have reached a record high $13 billion in 2011. Colombia is the third largest Latin American exporter of oil to the US. Inequality, underemployment, and narcotrafficking remain significant challenges, and Colombia''s infrastructure requires major improvements to sustain economic expansion. In late 2010, Colombia experienced its most severe flooding in decades with damages estimated to exceed $6 billion. The rains resumed in 2011 causing further damages to crops and infrastructure as well as killing hundreds of Colombians and displacing millions. Gdp (purchasing power parity) World Ranking: 29
$478 billion (2011 est.)
$451.3 billion (2010 est.) $433.9 billion (2009 est.) Note Data are in 2011 US dollars Gdp (official exchange rate)
$328.4 billion (2011 est.)
Gdp - real growth rate World Ranking: 47
5.9% (2011 est.)
4% (2010 est.) 1.7% (2009 est.) Gdp - per capita (ppp) World Ranking: 108
$10,400 (2011 est.)
$9,900 (2010 est.) $9,600 (2009 est.) Note Data are in 2011 US dollars Gdp - composition by sector
Agriculture 7%
Industry 37.6% Services 55.5% (2011 est.) Labor force World Ranking: 29
22.45 million (2011 est.)
Labor force - by occupation
Agriculture 18%
Industry 13% Services 68% (2011 est.) Unemployment rate World Ranking: 116
10.8% (2011 est.)
11.8% (2010 est.) Population below poverty line
37.2% (2010 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10% 0.9%
Highest 10% 44.4% (2010 est.) Distribution of family income - gini index World Ranking: 10
56 (2010)
53.8 (1996) Investment (gross fixed) World Ranking: 57
23% of GDP (2011 est.)
Budget
Revenues $89.94 billion
Expenditures $97.79 billion (2011 est.) Taxes and other revenues World Ranking: 107
27.4% of GDP (2011 est.)
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) World Ranking: 85
-2.4% of GDP (2011 est.)
Public debt World Ranking: 68
44.6% of GDP (2011 est.)
46.2% of GDP (2010 est.) Note Data cover general government debt, and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities Inflation rate (consumer prices) World Ranking: 76
3.4% (2011 est.)
2.3% (2010 est.) Central bank discount rate World Ranking: 71
4.75% (31 December 2011)
5% (31 December 2010) Commercial bank prime lending rate World Ranking: 103
11.22% (31 December 2011 est.)
9.383% (31 December 2010 est.) Stock of narrow money World Ranking: 54
$34.25 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $32.42 billion (31 December 2010 est.) Stock of broad money World Ranking: 49
$126.3 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $102.3 billion (31 December 2010 est.) Stock of domestic credit World Ranking: 42
$168.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $120.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.) Market value of publicly traded shares World Ranking: 34
$201.3 billion (31 December 2011) $208.5 billion (31 December 2010) $133.3 billion (31 December 2009) Agriculture - products
Coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; shrimp; forest products Industries
Textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds Industrial production growth rate World Ranking: 70
4.8% (2011 est.)
Electricity - production World Ranking: 47
51.01 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - consumption World Ranking: 55
38.82 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity - exports
1.294 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Electricity - imports
8.22 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Oil - production World Ranking: 26
800,100 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Oil - consumption World Ranking: 44
296,000 bbl/day (2010 est.)
Oil - exports World Ranking: 33
400,700 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Oil - imports World Ranking: 150
6,045 bbl/day (2009 est.)
Oil - proved reserves World Ranking: 35
1.9 billion bbl (1 January 2011 est.) Natural gas - production World Ranking: 43
10.49 billion cu m (2009 est.)
Natural gas - consumption World Ranking: 49
8.69 billion cu m (2009 est.)
Natural gas - exports World Ranking: 36
1.8 billion cu m (2009 est.)
Natural gas - imports World Ranking: 172
0 cu m (2009 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves World Ranking: 34
377 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.) Current account balance World Ranking: 176
-$9.98 billion (2011 est.)
-$8.76 billion (2010 est.) Exports World Ranking: 56
$56.22 billion (2011 est.)
$39.55 billion (2010 est.) Exports - commodities
Petroleum, coal, emeralds, coffee, nickel, cut flowers, bananas, apparel Exports - partners
US 38%, EU 15%, China 3.5%, Ecuador 3.4% (2011 est.) Imports World Ranking: 51
$54.7 billion (2011 est.)
$37.51 billion (2010 est.) Imports - commodities
Industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity Imports - partners
US 25%, China 15%, Mexico 11%, Brazil 5%, Germany 4.1% (2011 est.) Reserves of foreign exchange and gold World Ranking: 48
$31.01 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $28.08 billion (31 December 2010 est.) Debt - external World Ranking: 52
$68.76 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $63.06 billion (31 December 2010 est.) Stock of direct foreign investment - at home World Ranking: 39
$95.81 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $82.58 billion (31 December 2010 est.) Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad World Ranking: 41
$25.83 billion (31 December 2011 est.) $22.83 billion (31 December 2010 est.) Exchange rates
Colombian pesos (COP) per US dollar - 1,848.1 (2011 est.)1,898.6 (2010 est.) 2,157.6 (2009) 2,243.6 (2008) 2,013.8 (2007) Fiscal year
Calendar year
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Colombia (Bogota):
 
GPS points from Colombia (Bogota)
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Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). A four-decade long conflict between government forces and anti-government insurgent groups, principally the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) heavily funded by the drug trade, escalated during the 1990s. The insurgents lack the military or popular support necessary to overthrow the government, and violence has been decreasing since about 2002. However, insurgents continue attacks against civilians and large areas of the countryside are under guerrilla influence or are contested by security forces. More than 31,000 former paramilitaries had demobilized by the end of 2006 and the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) as a formal organization had ceased to function. In the wake of the paramilitary demobilization, emerging criminal groups arose, whose members include some former paramilitaries. The Colombian Government has stepped up efforts to reassert government control throughout the country, and now has a presence in every one of its administrative departments. However, neighboring countries worry about the violence spilling over their borders. In January 2011, Colombia assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2011-12 term.