Imports in Colombia registered an increase in August 2024, reaching a value of US$5,532.9 million, which represented a growth of 4.6% compared to the same month of the previous year, as reported by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE). ).
This increase was led by the Manufacturing group, which represented 74.1% of the total value of imports, with a year-on-year growth of 8.6%. The figures indicate that imports of this group reached US$4,101.8 million CIF (Cost, Insurance and Freight), highlighting products such as chemicals and manufactured items.
On the other hand, imports of Agricultural, food and beverages represented 14.1% of the total, although they presented a drop of 14.6% compared to August 2023.due to the decrease in the purchase of food products and live animals.
The Fuels and extractive industry products group had a share of 11.7% in total imports, with a value of US$646.8 million CIF, which represented an increase of 9.9% compared to the previous year, driven mainly due to the increase in the purchase of non-ferrous metals.
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Between January and August 2024, Colombian imports reached US$41,686 million CIF, which represented a slight reduction of 0.9% compared to the same period in 2023. Despite this, the manufacturing sector continued to show positive behavior with a growth of 1.2%, while the Agricultural, food and beverages and Fuels sectors experienced decreases of 9.2% and 3.3%, respectively.
Main countries of origin of imports
During August 2024, the majority of imports came from China (27.1%), followed by the United States (26%), Mexico (4.5%), Brazil (4.4%), Germany (3.6 %), India (2.5%) and Japan (2.4%). The remaining 29.5% corresponded to imports from other countries. From January to August, the United States and China remained the main trading partners, contributing 25.8% and 24%, respectively, of total imports.
Deficit in the trade balance
The DANE report also revealed a deficit in the Colombian trade balance of US$1,313 million FOB in August 2024, which represents an increase compared to the deficit of US$1,064.3 million FOB registered in the same month of the previous year. This increase in the deficit reflects greater dynamism in imports, especially in the manufacturing sector, compared to Colombian exports.
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