Exports of non-mining-energy goods grow 24.8% in Colombia this year

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Colombia’s exports of non-mining-energy goods reached USD11,522 million between January and August, the highest value for this period since 2008 when this kind of sales totaled US$11.9 billion.

The analysis of the Colombian Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Tourism for this class of goods, based on the report revealed by DANE, points out that they increased 24.8% compared to 2020 and 12.3% compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Colombia

Exports from the agricultural and food sector totaled US$6.04 billion up to August and grew 18.8% compared to 2020. Foreign sales of manufactured goods reached US$5.5 billion, increased 29.5%, and boosted the performance of non-mining exports.

“The external sales of both the agricultural and food sector and the manufacturing sector, so far this year exceed the amounts exported in 2019. Moreover, the former reported the highest figures in at least ten years, and the latter exceeded the values of 2018. This ratifies that we are advancing in the #SecureEconomicReactivation. We continue working to make foreign trade an engine of growth,” said the Minister of Trade, Industry and Tourism, María Ximena Lombana Villalba.

Several products recorded growth in exports between January and August and became the driving force behind this type of sales. In the case of agriculture and food, the following stand out: frozen beef, with a positive variation of 103.4%; Tahitian lemon, with 75.6%; gulupa, whose sales grew 41.9%; flowers and foliage with an increase of 21.5%; uchuva with exports that rose 16.4%; bananas with 10.2%; and palm oil with 8.5%, among others.

On the manufacturing exports side, the following stand out, among others: toilet or kitchen linen, with an increase of 151.6 %; plastics in primary forms, which grew 66.5 %; clothing with 61.4 %; metal manufacturing increased 53.9 %; fertilizers increased by 36.6%; organic chemicals increased by 36.2%; electrical machinery increased by 33.7%; perfumes and toilet waters increased by 20.6%; and hair shampoos increased by 9.8%.

Exports of non-mining energy goods grow 24.8% in Colombia this year