3.1 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)2 In 2021, Colombia´s GDP grew 10.6% (original series) compared to 2020, and 2.8% compared to 2019. This shows an effective recovery, with growth comparable to pre-pandemic levels. Bogotá´s growth rate for 2021 compared to 2020 was 10.3%, which means that Bogotá was, for the first time in the last 5 years, below the national growth rate with a difference of 0.3 percentage points. However, the capital grew by 3.4% compared to 2019, showing that, both locally and nationally, there are good signs of economic recovery from the pandemic. In March, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) published GDP figures by departments for 2020. What can be observed, beyond the fact that the 7.0% drop compared to 2019 was confirmed, is the differentiated effect by region. Unlike Bogotá, which has quarterly GDP information (being the only territory in the country and one of the few cities that reports production on the continent), the other territories only get this disaggregate level of information 5 quarters later.3 This statistical operation for the first time allowed the country to see the differentiate effect of the pandemic in its Territories. For example, La Guajira and San Andrés Island were the hardest hit, where economic activity decreased by 25.4% and 19.6%, respectively. Cundinamarca´s economic output decreased by 5.9%, the fourth department with the lowest drop in the country, followed by Caquetá and Córdoba with 5.8%. Risaralda was the department with the lowest drop, registering only 5.6%
Graph 1. Economic growth by departments between 2020 and 2019
2 Source: 3
DANE, GDP Colombia and Bogotá fourth quarter of 2021. Published on March 15, 2021 Source: DANE, Departmental GDP. Published March 25, 2022.
