Colombia is importing more: foreign purchases grew by 56.3% in November 2021

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Imports totaled US$6.5 billion in November last year; this represented an annual growth of 56.3% compared to the same month in 2020, one of the highest in recent years.

This performance was mainly due to the 50.8% increase in the manufacturing group. The other sectors with the highest participation were agriculture with 12.8%, and fuels and extractive activities with 10.4%.

It was announced by the National Statistics Department (Dane), which reported that, when comparing the eleventh month of 2021 with the same month of 2019, there was also an increase of 37.6%.

Likewise, in the period January-November 2021, an increase in Colombia‘s external purchases of 12.9% was recorded compared to the same period of 2019. Imports of agricultural products, food, and beverages increased by 24.9% and of manufactured goods by 14.0%, while fuels and products of extractive industries recorded a decrease of 11.2% and other sectors an increase of 25.6%.

And compared to the period January-November 2020, imports totaled US$54,891 million, that is, an increase of 39.5%.

On the other hand, according to Dane, most of the products imported in November are from the United States, with a share of 25.6% of the total. It was followed by China, with 22.8%, Mexico, with 6.1%, Brazil, with 5.5%, and France, with 3.8%. Around 30% was distributed among the other countries.

This behavior of imports accentuated the deficit in the Colombian trade balance. In November 2021, the deficit was US$2 billion, while in November 2019, there was a deficit of US$1.6 billion. And in November 2020, it was US$1.4 billion.

On the other hand, in the period January-November 2021, a deficit in the Colombian trade balance of US$14.3 billion was recorded. In the same period of 2019, the deficit was US$10.2 billion. In 2020, this was US$9.3 billion.