At the end of last October, what many analysts had been saying was consolidated: that the strong inflow of remittances to Colombia was competing with foreign direct investment (FDI) and, according to figures from the Bank of the Republic, remittances Colombian labor resources outside the country have already exceeded the resources that foreign companies bring to carry out productive activity.
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The figures from the Exchange Balance of the Colombian central bank show that in the first 10 months of the year, Colombians in countries such as the United States, Spain, Chile, Mexico or the United Kingdom, just to mention the main ones, sent remittances for US$9,716 million , That is, 17.2% above what they had reached in the same period of 2023, when the figure amounted to US$8,289 million.
October marked five months in which remittances recorded monthly income above US$1,000 million, so in November the record for all of 2023, when these reached US$10,091 million, will surely be surpassed. That is, there are only US$375 million missing to reach last year’s global figure.
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Thus, remittances in 2024 could reach close to US$12 billion.
It must be remembered that the total number of remittances in 2023 (US$10,091 million) They represented 2.8% of Colombia’s gross domestic product.
In terms of family income, remittances represented 3.6% of disposable income and 3.9% of household consumption.
Furthermore, in departments such as Valle del Cauca, which receives the most these resources, and regions of the coffee region, Antioquia and Cundinamarca, the transfers of Colombian workers abroad have been important in the lives of its inhabitants and have promoted some consumer and productive activities.
When discriminating the figures, in October US$1,036 million arrived in the country, in September the figure was US$1,037 million, in August US$1,008 million, in July US$1,006 million, in June US$1,017 million, in May US$960 million, in April US$929 million, in March they had entered US$894 million, in February they entered US$913 million and in January the same They had made US$912 million.
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Analysts and academics say that it is to be expected that in the last two months of the year the figures will even be higher than those of previous periods, although the contexts – sometimes changing – must always be taken into account. in political, economic and social matters of the countries that issue these remittances.
Less foreign direct investment
For its part, the Exchange Balance records of the Banco de la República show that at the end of October FDI totaled US$9,319 million, a figure that represents a 17% drop compared to that recorded in the previous years. first 10 months of 2023, a period in which US$11,224 million arrived.
Within this indicator, it must be mentioned that the oil-mining sector in the first 10 months of the year represented 70% of the total, with US$6,689 million, although it must be clarified that this figure does not represent that these resources have entered, since they are also It may involve profits or profits from foreign companies that work in Colombia. in the mining and hydrocarbons sector and decide to reinvest a portion or also use them to pay taxes on the activity.
It should also be mentioned that a year ago the weight of this sector within FDI was 80%, meaning that it has been losing some importance.
Colombians get more resources to invest
The records of the Exchange Balance of the Bank of the Republic until last October also show that Colombians have been increasing the outflow of resources, which are counted as Colombian investment abroad, since the figure reached US$2,184 million, on the 17th, 5% higher than a year ago, when the amount amounted to US$1,859. In the first 10 months of 2022 the figure amounted to US$1,409 million.
Finally, within the Issuer’s statistics it is noted that foreign funds between January and October liquidated positions in fixed income securities and shares for US$2,697 million, This figure is lower than the US$4,023 they settled in the same period of 2023.
HOLMAN RODRÍGUEZ MARTÍNEZ
Journalist Portfolio
