Colombia’s retail sales and industrial output rose in July, extending a trend showing the country’s economic growth is being mainly fueled by a surge in household consumption.
Retail sales jumped 11.8% in July from the same month a year earlier, while industrial output climbed 3.9%, the government’s statistics institute, known as DANE, said Monday.
The retail sales surge in July was led by a 21% jump in the sale of motorcycles and automobiles and a 50% increase in sales of computer equipment.
The Colombian central bank has pointed to strong consumer demand and private consumption as the backbone of the country’s economic growth this year. The central bank expects gross domestic product to grow between 4.5% and 6.5% in 2011.