Colombia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 1.6 percent in the third quarter of the year at a quarterly rate, while it increased by 7 percent year-on-year, according to data presented on Tuesday by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).
This year-on-year growth is lower than that recorded in the first and second quarters of the year, when it climbed to 8.7 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively. In the adjusted series, year-on-year GDP growth stood at 7 percent.
In turn, in the year-to-date, Colombia’s GDP grew by 9.4 percent. By month, DANE has highlighted the lower monthly contribution of GDP in September, when it grew by 4.2 percent, compared to the 6.7 percent and 9 percent increase in July and August, respectively. The same happens in the accumulated for the year, where September only contributed 0.5 percent.
By economic activity, the main contributions are in the commerce and hotels and restaurants sector, artistic activities and manufacturing industries. Meanwhile, the agricultural sector is the only one of the 12 segments that make up the GDP that has a negative quarterly performance, of 0.1 percent. In this sense, DANE has highlighted the «good general dynamics» of Colombia’s economy.
For its part, domestic demand grew by 9.8 percent year-on-year, while gross capital formation increased by 21.2 percent. Likewise, imports grew by 23 percent, higher than exports, which increased by 14 percent, leaving a net foreign trade balance in negative, amounting to 33,659 million pesos (1,674 million euros).
