Colombia’s 2024 Exports Dip Slightly to $49.5 Billion, December Sees 0.6% Rise

The National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) announced that Colombia’s exports for December 2024 reached $4.472 billion FOB, marking a 0.6% increase from December 2023.

This uptick primarily resulted from a 29.5% surge in the agricultural, food, and beverage sector. In December, fuel and extractive industry products accounted for 43.3% of total export value.

Agricultural goods made up 26.4%, manufactured items 21.9%, and other sectors 8.5%. Notably, crude oil exports fell by 10.2% to 14.6 million barrels compared to the previous year.

Agricultural products led the growth with a 29.5% increase, driven by non-decaffeinated coffee exports up by 51.5% and cut flowers by 22.5%. Other sectors followed with a 20.7% rise, mainly due to non-monetary gold exports.

Manufactures grew by 16.5%, with increases in material-specific manufactured articles and transport machinery. Conversely, the fuel sector saw an 18.8% drop, affected by reduced coal and oil product sales.

Over the entire year, exports totaled $49.552 billion, down 0.4% from 2023. Javier Díaz Molina from Analdex commented, “We should aim for over $100 billion annually, but we’re stuck below $50 billion, similar to last year.

Colombia’s Export Landscape

Regional efforts are crucial for a positive 2025 outcome, but we must watch global trade wars.” Yearly, other sectors grew by 20.4%, thanks to gold, while agriculture increased by 14%. Manufactures saw a modest 4.3% rise, but fuels dropped by 10.6%.

Díaz noted stable sectors with declines in apparel, automotive, and pharmaceuticals. María Claudia Lacouture from AmCham highlighted that exports to the United States grew by 8% to $14.336 billion, contrasting with a global decrease.

The U.S. remained Colombia’s primary export destination with a 28.9% share, followed by Panama, India, China, Mexico, Brazil, and Ecuador. These figures paint a picture of a challenging yet resilient Colombian export market navigating through global economic fluctuations and sector-specific dynamics.