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Colombia ECONOMY
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): Approximately
US$33.6
billion in 1987; per capita income roughly US$1,330 in
1986. GDP
grew at annual rate of more than 5 percent during 1967-80
period,
declined to annual rate of approximately 2 percent from
1981 to
1985, and rebounded to annual rate of nearly 5 percent in
1986 and
1987.
Services: Nearly 51 percent of GDP in 1987.
Sector
included trade (nearly 11 percent), transportation (nearly
8
percent), government services (8 percent), and financial
services
(more than 7 percent).
Industry: Over 25 percent of GDP in 1987;
primarily
composed of manufacturing and construction. Major
manufactured
goods included food, beverages, textiles, and chemicals.
Agriculture: Almost 21 percent of GDP in 1987;
also
accounted for nearly 68 percent of export earnings in
1986. Main
export crops included coffee, bananas, cut flowers,
sugarcane, and
cotton.
Mining and Energy: About 3 percent of GDP in
1987. Major
precious metals included gold, platinum, silver, and
emeralds.
Possessed Latin America's largest coal reserve deposits.
Selfsufficient in oil and natural gas.
Exchange Rate: Government pursued policy of
frequent
marginal devaluations of peso against major traded
currencies.
Exchange rate averaged Col$299.1=US$1 in 1988.
Exports: Officially recorded products totaled
approximately US$5.2 billion in 1987. Coffee represented
almost 60
percent of all exports in 1986. Other significant exports
included
petroleum and derivatives, metals, and noncoffee
agricultural
products. Colombia also Latin America's largest exporter
of illegal
drugs.
Imports: Approximately US$3.9 billion in 1987.
Major
imports included machinery and equipment, chemicals, and
transport
equipment.
Balance of Payments: Merchandise trade surplus
in late
1980s offset by chronic services account deficit. Although
manageable, foreign debt more than doubled from 1980 to
1986 to
total US$14.6 billion.
Fiscal Year: Calendar year.
Data as of December 1988
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