Gross domestic product

Colombia’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew to $321 billion in 2019 as the economy recovers from a blow dealt by a global drop in commodity prices in 2015.

Colombia GDP

Pushed by booming oil revenue, Colombia’s GDP grew rapidly in the first 15 years of the century, until the bubble burst in 2014. The global collapse of commodity prices deflated the price of the Colombian peso and the GDP contracted.

Source: World Bank

Colombia’s GDP growth rate

The commodity boom allowed Colombia to avoid much of the fallout of the global banking crisis of 2008. The country’s traditional sectors — weakened by years of an oil-inflated peso — have been struggling to recover.

Source: World Bank

Colombia’s GDP per sector

Contrary to popular belief, oil and mining only make up a small percentage of Colombia’s GDP. Commerce, public services and manufacturing make up almost half of the country’s economy.

Source: DANE

GDP per sector (billions of pesos)

While most business sectors have grown steadily over the past decades, this has not been the case for sectors that largely depend on exports. The commodity boom inflated the price of the peso and reduced the competitiveness on the global market of commerce, manufacturing and agriculture.

Source: DANE

GDP per capita in US dollars

Colombia’s GDP per capita recovered from the bursting commodity bubble in 2017 to reach $6,300, but is likely to need years to recover and reach the levels from before the 2014 commodity crisis.

Source: World Bank

GDP per capita growth

Source: World Bank

Regional GDP distribution

Colombia’s GDP is largely concentrated in the country’s capital Bogota, and in cities like Medellin and Cali. Chronic state neglect has left the economies of other, mostly rural regions of the country severely underdeveloped.

Source: DANE