Colombia Economy
Economy - overviewColombia's economy suffers from weak domestic and foreign demand, austere government budgets, and serious internal armed conflict, but seems poised for recovery. Other economic problems facing President URIBE range from reforming the pension system to reducing high unemployment. Two of Colombia's leading exports, oil and coffee, face an uncertain future; new exploration is needed to offset declining oil production, while coffee harvests and prices are depressed. On the positive side, several international financial institutions have praised the economic reforms introduced by URIBE, which includes measures designed to reduce the public-sector deficit below 2.5% of GDP in 2004. The government's economic policy and democratic security strategy have engendered a growing sense of confidence in the economy, particularly within the business sector, and GDP growth in 2003 was among the highest in Latin America.
GDP
purchasing power parity - $263.2 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate
3.7% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita
purchasing power parity - $6,300 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 13.7%
industry: 32.1%
services: 54.2% (2003 est.)
Investment
15.9% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line
55% (2001)
Household income or consumption by percentage share
lowest 10%: 1%
highest 10%: 44% (1999)
Distribution of family income - Gini index
57.1 (1996)
Inflation rate
7.1% (2003 est.)
Labor force
20.34 million (2003 est.)
Labor force - by occupation
agriculture 30%, industry 24%, services 46% (1990)
Unemployment rate
14.2% (2003 est.)
Budget
revenues: $24 billion
expenditures: $25.6 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2004 est.)
Public debt
51.9% of GDP (2003)
Agriculture - products
coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco, corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products; shrimp
Industries
textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear, beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds
Industrial production growth rate
3.5% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production
42.99 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption
39.81 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports
210 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports
40 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production
614,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption
252,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports
NA (2001)
Oil - imports
NA (2001)
Oil - proved reserves
1.8 billion bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production
5.7 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption
5.7 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports
0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves
132 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance
$-1.417 billion (2003)
Exports
$12.96 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities
petroleum, coffee, coal, apparel, bananas, cut flowers
Exports - partners
US 47.1%, Ecuador 6%, Venezuela 5.3% (2003)
Imports
$13.06 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities
industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, electricity
Imports - partners
US 29.6%, Brazil 5.5%, Mexico 5.4%, Venezuela 5.2%, China 5%, Japan 4.6%, Germany 4.4% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold
$10.92 billion (2003)
Debt - external
$38.26 billion (2003 est.)
Currency
Colombian peso (COP)
Currency code
COP
Exchange rates
Colombian pesos per US dollar - 2,877.65 (2003), 2,504.24 (2002), 2,299.63 (2001), 2,087.9 (2000), 1,756.23 (1999)
