Exports of non-mining energy services and goods exceed the target set for 2021, according to Mincomercio

In 2021, exports of Colombia's non-mining energy basket (goods+services) totaled US $25,827 million, which means an increase of 26.5% compared to 2020.

This result originates from last year's exports of services, in the order of US$7,641 million, 30.9% higher than that exported in 2020, and in external sales of non-mining energy goods recorded at the end of 2021 of US $18,186 million, which were already known, which grew by 24.5% compared to 2020.

These data are part of the analysis carried out by the Office of Economic Studies of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, based on figures from the Banco de la República and DANE.

This behavior of the non-mining export basket (goods and services) translates into an overfulfillment of the 114.8% target, which was set for 2021 at US$22,499 million. It should be remembered that this goal was adjusted after the situation caused by the pandemic.

The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, María Ximena Lombana Villalba, said that this “is the result of a joint work with entrepreneurs. We have programs to support and promote exports of both goods and services, which we have put at the service of the productive sector. We continue to move from revival to growth, and in this process, foreign trade is an important lever for growth,” he said.

Among the exports of services, the largest share was held by the Travel sector, which participated with 34.6%. In 2021, this item exported US$2.6 billion, an increase of 64% compared to 2020.

The next most important service category in this basket was Other Business, which accounted for 29.7%. External sales in this sector reached nearly US$2.3 billion, an increase of approximately 21% compared to 2020.

Meanwhile, external sales of transport-related services, which participated with 17.4%, totaled US$1.3 billion, an increase of 8.6% compared to 2020.

The Colombian Ministry of Commerce reported that during January 2022 exports of non-mining energy goods totaled $1.49 billion, which shows that the growth trend of this important sector that has driven economic reactivation in the country is continuing.

This announcement follows from the analysis carried out by the Office of Economic Studies of the portfolio, based on figures from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), which indicates that this type of exports increased by 23.9 per cent compared to the same month during the previous year, during which it still remained restrictions due to the covid-19 pandemic.

“This result not only satisfies us and fills us with optimism, but also invites us to deepen our strategy and to continue making available to entrepreneurs all the institutional offer we have, through entities in this sector such as ProColombia, Colombia Productiva and Bancóldex,” said Minister María Ximena Lombana.

In this regard, he indicated that this figure, which is 23.4% higher than in 2020 and 18.5% higher than in 2019, the year before the pandemic, shows that the country continues to make progress in the safe economic reactivation, in a sector that has maintained remarkable growth, while noting that current times require incentivizing creativity, strengthening the working together with the private sector and identifying opportunities for products and services abroad.

One of the sectors that contributed to the behavior of foreign sales of non-mining energy goods was that of manufacturing, which totaled $690.7 million dollars, the highest value recorded since 2013, with the sale of road vehicles, whose sales to the world grew 99.5%, iron and steel products 85.5 per cent, manufactures of metals 56.8 per cent, footwear 55.1 per cent, clothing and clothing accessories 28.7%.

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