The industry and commerce, The two sectors that traditionally have the greatest weight in the national economic activity, left positive results again, according to the figures presented yesterday by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) for the month of April.
(Read: Bogotá’s Gross Domestic Product grew 11.5% in the first quarter).
The most notable rebound occurred on the retail side, which in the fourth month of the year showed a variation of 23.3%, while employed personnel grew 2.8% in relation to the same month of 2021. Excluding the fuel trade, the variation in real sales in the sector was 22.8%.
The greatest positive contributions to the annual variation occurred in fuel lines for motor vehiclesyes; other motor vehicles and motorcycles; and clothing and textiles, together contributing 11.2 percentage points to the total variation of retail trade.
By merchandise lines, those that presented a greater variation in their sales were the clothing and textiles, with an increase of 104.8%; footwear and leather articles, with a variation of 86.5%; and books, stationery, newspapers, magazines and school supplies, with a 54.8% growth in sales in April compared to April 2021.
Only one line of merchandise registered a negative annual variation in its sales for April: pharmaceutical and medicinal products, with a variation of -1.2% compared to April last year.
On the other hand, in the period from January to April 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, thes retail sales grew 14.7% and in this period.
Likewise, if the results of April 2022 are compared with those of April 2019, there is evidence of a 23.4% increase in retail sales and a 1.3% drop in relation to employed personnel.
manufactures
Manufacturing industries showed an increase in their real production of 13.5% in the fourth month of 2021, while their sales saw an increase of 14.6% and employment in the sector increased by 4.3% compared to April last year.
The statistical entity highlighted how of the 39 industrial activities that are represented by the monthly survey, a total of 33 registered positive variations in their real production in April.
Of these, the most important increase occurred in the manufacture of bodywork, which registered a rise of 40.8%, in the manufacture of rubber products, with an annual increase of 36.1% in its production, and in the manufacture of clothing, which increased by 32.8% in its annual comparison for April.
Regarding the contribution to the industry, the categories with the greatest participation in the sector and that were behind the result were the manufacture of beverages, with a contribution of 2.5 percentage points (pps) to the total variation, and a growth 22.7%; followed by the manufacture of clothing, which contributed 1.1 pps, and the manufacture of paper and cardboard, which increased its production by 22.1% and contributed 0.9 pps to the total variation.
The entity’s report also highlighted that, so far this year until April 2022, the real production of the manufacturing industry presented a variation of 12.7%, real sales of 13.0% and employed personnel of 4, 5%.
The director of Dane, Juan Daniel Oviedo, stressed that “if we compare the actual production of April 2022 with that generated in April 2019, we are seeing a ‘triennial’ growth of 19.5%” and that if you look at this figure as an average annual growth it would show a figure of 6.12%.
Faced with these results, the president of the National Association of Entrepreneurs of Colombia (Andi), Bruce Mac Master, highlighted the April figures both in their annual variation and for the dynamics so far this year, and said that due to this dynamism since the guild is expected that the economy will grow above 6% for its gross domestic product (GDP) from 2022.
“This is positive news for the country that continues to show the good pace that the economy has taken. This has been possible thanks to the reactivation and return to normality, after overcoming numerous difficulties in the last two years, due to the pandemic and other factors, both local and international”, said Mac Master.
(In addition: Asobancaria asks users to be alert on the day without VAT).
Regarding the industrial dynamics by region, Cundinamarca had the greatest contribution (2.8 pps) with a variation of 17.5% in its manufacturing production, Antioquia, which grew 14.3% and contributed 2.7 pps, while the region with the most outstanding dynamics was Córdoba, which in April registered an increase of 28.1% in its manufacturing production, and their contribution was 0.3 pps.
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