Colombia · ECONOMY
Key Facts
- —First half The current-account deficit was US$5.981 billion, up US$1.854 billion on 2025.
- —Share of output 2.3% of half-year GDP, against 2.0% a year earlier.
- —Second quarter US$4.702 billion, or 3.5% of quarterly output.
- —First quarter US$1.278 billion after revision, or 1.0% of quarterly output.
- —What drove it A goods trade gap of US$4.915 billion and US$3.287 billion of profits sent abroad in the second quarter.
- —What covers it Foreign direct investment of US$8.138 billion in the half, up 31.1%.
The gap grew by US$1.8 billion in the first half. Almost all of it arrived in the second quarter.
Colombia’s current-account deficit reached US$5.981 billion in the first half of 2026. The central bank published the figure on 1 September 2026.
That is US$1.854 billion wider than a year earlier, and 2.3% of output for the half. The widening happened almost entirely between April and June.
What a Current-Account Deficit Is
It measures what a country earns abroad against what it spends there. The count covers goods, services, profits paid to foreign owners and money sent home by migrants.
A deficit has to be covered by foreign investment or borrowing. That is normal for a developing economy, and it becomes a problem only if the financing dries up.
The Quarter That Did the Damage
The first quarter was mild, at US$1.278 billion or 1.0% of quarterly output. The second quarter came in at US$4.702 billion, or 3.5%.
That is a swing of US$3.424 billion in three months. Nothing structural changed; the components simply moved together in one direction.
One caution on the first-quarter number. The central bank first published it as US$1.573 billion in June, then revised it down to US$1.278 billion in the September report.
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What Made Up the Second Quarter
Two items account for almost all of it. The goods trade deficit was US$4.915 billion, and profits and interest paid to foreign owners came to US$3.287 billion.
Services added a smaller deficit of US$631 million. Money sent home from abroad worked the other way, adding US$4.131 billion.
The four together produce the US$4.702 billion figure. Remittances are the single largest offsetting item in the whole account.
Exports Did Not Fall
It would be easy to assume a wider trade gap means weaker exports. In Colombia’s case the opposite happened.
Exports rose 13.6% in the first half to US$28.344 billion, led by gold, crude oil and manufactured goods. Imports rose 14.2% to US$36.155 billion.
Consumer goods imports were up US$2.363 billion, and capital goods and inputs up US$1.070 billion. That is a demand story, not an export failure.
It fits the growth figures. The economy expanded 3.5% in the second quarter, helped by the World Cup.
Profits Going Home
The second largest component is money foreign owners take out of the country. That covers dividends, profits and interest on foreign-held assets.
It ran at US$3.287 billion in the second quarter and US$3.251 billion in the first. It is a steady drain rather than a sudden one.
The wider position behind it is large. Colombia owes the rest of the world about US$204 billion more than it owns abroad, roughly 40% of a year’s output.
Who Is Paying for the Gap
Net capital inflows were US$4.265 billion in the first half, or 1.6% of output. That is US$1.047 billion more than a year earlier.
Foreign direct investment did the heavy lifting, at US$8.138 billion, up 31.1%. That alone exceeds the whole current-account deficit.
Portfolio investors went the other way, taking out a net US$3.032 billion. Gross capital inflows more than halved, from US$11.395 billion to US$5.299 billion.
Colombians also brought US$6.149 billion of their own money home. Reserves rose about US$550 million in the quarter.
The Remittances Doing the Work
Money sent home by Colombians abroad is now a structural feature of the accounts. It reached US$13.098 billion in 2025, up 10.5%, and 2026 is running higher again.
Between January and May 2026 remittances came to US$5.638 billion, a rise of 5.9%. March set a monthly record above US$1.2 billion.
In the first quarter remittances exceeded foreign direct investment for the first time in two decades. That is a less comfortable mix, because remittances fund consumption rather than capacity.
Whether It Matters
Analysts are relaxed at this level and watchful about the financing. Munir Jalil of BTG Pactual says the levels are rising but manageable.
Hernando Vargas of the central bank frames the risk precisely. The assumption, he says, is that the country keeps its access to external financing.
Full-year forecasts cluster between 2.5% and 2.8% of output, so the half-year figure sits at the low end. The central bank itself expects 2.5%.
The complication is elsewhere in the accounts. Colombia is also running a budget deficit near 7% of output, which raises how much external money it needs.
The Backdrop
The central bank has held its policy rate at 12% and analysts expect it there to year end. Inflation was around 6.1% in August, still well above the 2% to 4% target.
The peso traded near 3,184 to the dollar on 2 September. A stronger peso also inflates the deficit as a share of output, because output measured in dollars gets larger.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big is Colombia’s current-account deficit?
US$5.981 billion for the first half of 2026, or 2.3% of half-year output. That is US$1.854 billion wider than the same period in 2025.
What is a current-account deficit?
It means a country spends more abroad than it earns there, on goods, services and payments to foreign owners. The gap has to be covered by investment or borrowing from outside.
Why did it widen?
Imports grew much faster than exports, and foreign-owned companies sent more profit home. Exports actually rose 13.6% in the half; imports rose 14.2% from a larger base.
Is the deficit being financed?
Comfortably, for now. Foreign direct investment alone was US$8.138 billion in the half, more than the whole deficit.
Portfolio investors, though, took out a net US$3.032 billion.
Is 2.3% a problem?
Most analysts say no at this level. Munir Jalil of BTG Pactual calls the levels manageable, and forecasts for the full year run between 2.5% and 2.8%.
Connected Coverage
Sources: Banco de la República, Informe de Balanza de Pagos, second quarter 2026, published 1 September 2026; DANE; Superintendencia Financiera TRM; Valora Analitik; Bloomberg Línea; La República; Portafolio.
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