Colombia’s economy grew 0.4 percent in 2009, lifted by a 2.5% increase in GDP in the fourth quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2008, according to government statistics agency DANE.
The increase is better than expected by the Central Bank, which had estimated that the results would show that GDP increased 1.5% in the fourth quarter, which would bring the total GDP change over the course of 2009 to around +0.1%.
A Reuters poll of analysts had predicted growth of 0.16% over the year and 1.56% in the last quarter.
DANE’s figures show that the income generated by the mining industry was up over 11%, while manufacturing was down by more than 6%.
Colombia’s GDP fell in the first three quarters of 2009, for which figures are already available. The rate of decline did however decrease each quarter, falling -0.5% in the first, -0.3% in the second and -0.2% in the third.
