The Colombian economy is projected to grow by 0.6% in 2023, half of what was expected

Bogotá, February 15 (EFE).- The Colombian economy closed in 2023 with a growth of 0.6% in gross domestic product (GDP), half of the 1.2% forecast by international organizations and other financial institutions, according to the National Department of Administrative Statistics ( Dane).

GDP suffered a pronounced drop in its growth to 7.3% in 2022, and was far from the 1.2% growth forecast by 'think-tanks' such as the World Bank or BBVA Research or 1.4% for 2023. A forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“We had the biggest growth rate we've ever had in January, and then five months of the year were negative and very close to zero in December and July,” explained Beatot Urdinola, director of DANE.

Financial and insurance activities, 7.9%, and arts, entertainment and housing activities, 7%, were the two sectors that grew the most, while construction (-4.2%) and manufacturing (-3.5%) fell the most. .

Additionally, final consumption expenditure increased by 1.1%, while imports increased by 14.7% and exports by 3.1%.

In the fourth quarter, GDP grew only 0.2% compared to the same quarter in 2022 and 0.04% compared to the previous quarter (July-September 2023).

Economic activities that contributed the most to this small quarterly growth were financial and insurance activities, which grew by 4.7%, followed by agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry and fishing, which grew by 2.7% compared to the previous quarter.