During 2021, the Colombian economy showed a strong recovery, which led to growth of gross domestic product (GDP) 10.7% per year, and register a value of $1.177 billion in current prices. However, at the regional level, the dynamics of the departments was heterogeneous.
(Read: ‘Digital platforms weigh almost 0.23% of GDP’: leader of Alianza In).
Yesterday the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) made official the data for the gross domestic product by departments, and the statistical entity highlighted that of the 32 departments and the capital, Bogotá, in 11 of them showed a rebound of economic activity higher than the national average in 2021.
These are the departments Guajira, whose GDP grew 32.5% in 2021, the archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina, with a growth rate of 26.6%, Bolívar (13.9%), Guainía (13.9%) and Antioquia ( 13.7%).
Also above the national average are the departments of Atlántico (12.4%), Quindío (12.0%), Magdalena (11.8%), Cundinamarca (11.6%), Risaralda (11.1%) and Caldes (10.9%).
“The department that had the most important volume of growth in 2021 was La Guajira, to the extent that we are comparing it with one of the most important contractions that were generated in 2020, due to the sudden decrease in coal exploitation in the context of lockdown”, explained the director of Dane, Juan Daniel Oviedo.
However, the official highlighted that in 2020, the year of the pandemic, La Guajira showed a contraction in its economy of -25.4%, which largely explains the recovery data that the area showed for 2021.
In the case of the Archipelago, a marked recovery was also seen, if one bears in mind that in 2020 the department of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina was not only affected by the impact of the pandemic on its economy, with a high tourist vocation, but also also due to the passage of Hurricane Iota, which impacted other sectors of the island’s economy. In 2020 the GDP of this department fell -19.6%.
On the contrary, there were 22 departments and cities that registered a GDP equal to or less than the national average. This was the case of Sucre, which grew 10.7% in 2021, in line with the national economy, while the capital, Bogotá DC, was slightly lower, at 10.6%. Other departments with two-digit variations were Norte de Santander (10.6%) and Amazonas (10.0%).
In the case of Valle del Cauca, the annual growth rate was 9.8%, followed by Córdoba (9.7%), Nariño (9.6%), Cauca (9.5%), Santander (9.5 %) and Tolima (9.2%).
A more modest growth compared to the national benchmark was seen in the cases of Vaupés (8.9%), Putumayo (8.8%), Guaviare (8.7%), Boyacá (8.3%), Vichada (8, 3%), Huila (8.2%), Chocó (7.5%) and Caquetá (7.3%). The lowest growth rates occurred in the eastern departments of the country, with Arauca (4.2%), Cesar (4.0%), Meta (2.4%) and Casanare (1.2%).
GDP concentration
The Dane also highlighted how the bulk of economic activity was concentrated in certain regions, and how, in fact, three departments generate practically half of the GDP of the Colombian economy, and in fact, according to Oviedo, Bogotá It represents a quarter of the country’s economy.
“In current terms, in 2021 the GDP was $1,177 billion and we see how almost $300 billion of that was generated in Bogotá ($298 billion); in second place is Antioquia with $176 billion, followed by Valle del Cauca with $114 billion, and with that we have more than $585 billion concentrated in three departments that have a very important representation”, said the director of Dane.
(Also: Bogotá, Antioquia and Valle, regions that contributed the most to GDP in 2021).
The 50.1% of the GDP of the Colombian economy was generated in 2021 in three geographical contexts, which are Bogotá, Antioquia and Valle del Cuca, with contributions of 25.3 percentage points (pps), 15.0 pps and 9.8 pps, respectively.
If the contribution of Santander (6.3 pps), Cundinamarca (6.6 pps) and Atlántico (4.4 pps) is added to these, “we find that practically two thirds of the gross domestic product of the Colombian economy is generated in six departments,” said Oviedo.
The director of the Dane highlighted that not only are these some of the main regional economies, but also, given the impact of the pandemic In the large cities due to the confinements, these six departments were also the ones with the greatest reactivation.
On the other side of the scale are the departments with the smallest GDP, which in 2021 were Vaupés, with $323,000 million at current prices; Guainía, with $431,000 million; Vichada, with a GDP of $775,000 million for 2021, Amazonas, with $880,000 million and Guaviare, with a GDP of $931,000 million at current prices.
These are the departments with the least weight in the national GDP, in which all contributed less than 0.1 pps individually to the total variation in GDP last year.
LAURA LUCIA BECERRA ELEJALDE
