Colombia’s economy falls 9% in the third quarter

Colombia’s economy contracted 9% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2020.

From 2015 to 2019, the Colombian economy experienced real growth every year.

Real GDP grew 3.0% in 2015, 2.1% in 2016, 1.4% in 2017, 2.5% in 2018 and 3.3% in 2019.

The growth of the Colombian economy in 2019 was mainly due to increases in domestic demand, private consumption and gross capital formation.

The contraction in the third quarter of the current year came after an upwardly revised drop of 15.8% in the previous period.

Among the sectors most affected, the activity fell less in recreation and entertainment (-29.7%); construction (-26.2%) and retail and wholesale trade, transportation, hotels and restaurants (-20.1%); mining (-19.1%); manufacturing (-7.2%) and professional, scientific, technical and administrative and support (-6.1 percent).

On the other hand, growth was registered in real estate activities (1.8%); finance and insurance (1.5%) and agriculture (1.5 percent).

On a seasonally adjusted quarterly basis, Colombia’s economy grew 8.7%, following an upwardly revised decline of 16.1% in the prior period.

Colombia’s economy  

During 2019, all economic sectors experienced positive growth, except for construction.

The sectors that experienced the highest growth in 2019 were services (4.8%); public administration and defense, education and health (4.9%) and financial activities and insurance (5.7 percent).

In contrast, the primary sectors that experienced the least growth were agriculture, livestock, fishing, forestry and hunting (1.9%), and mining (2.1 percent).

Still, mining grew in 2019 after five consecutive years of contraction since the 2014 oil crisis.