These are the products that Colombians are importing the most

The National Administrative Department of Statistics published the most recent import report, figures fed by import declarations registered with the Directorate of National Taxes and Customs, DIAN, covering the period from January to February of this year 2020.

Statistics show that the majority of products brought from China are the ones that are most in demand in the country, represent 27.7% of total imports, followed by countries such as the United States and to a lesser extent, Brazil, Mexico, France, Germany and India. This means that the Asian country, for the second consecutive year, is the nation of choice for Colombia in terms of imports.

In fact, what is imported most from China are cell phones, laptops, polycarbonates, resins and vehicles for public transport. Mobile phones alone account for 66.7 per cent of imports.

From the United States, the country is bringing motor gasoline, light oils and diesel oils. In France, aircraft weighing more than 15 thousand kilograms and jet engines are being purchased. From Brazil, vehicles for the transport of people and chemical wood pulps are being imported. Some types of wheat, aluminum and their raw alloys are being shipped from Canada. Most medicines are being imported from Germany.

According to DANE, imports worth $5.826 million have been recorded, in CIF terms, (cost, insurance and freight), which represents an increase of 49.2 per cent compared to the first two months of 2021. The manufacturing industry is the one that mainly brings products from abroad, which have invested more than 9 billion dollars.

Other products that had an increase in imports were food, beverages, oils, fats, waxes of both animal and vegetable origin, tobaccos, non-edible raw materials; along with agricultural and live animal products. This group had purchases of more than 1.5 billion dollars, an increase of approximately 22.8 per cent.

A special section presented by DANE is imports from Russia and Ukraine; “In February 2022 imports from Russia were US$71.6 million CIF”, this represents an increase of 686% compared to the same month in 2021. According to the department, this behavior was mainly due to the increase in external purchases of fertilizers.

In fact, according to the table of imports from Russia, it is bringing: fertilizers, both mineral and chemical, copper wire, flat rolled products, tubes, pipes, profiles, bars, rods and other products of iron or steel; aluminum and its alloys, together with acids, stand out there. It is striking that helicopter purchases stand out.

Also in February of this year, “imports from Ukraine amounted to US$23.1 million CIF and showed an increase of 536.4%”. DANE assures that this is due to the increase in purchases of “semi-finished iron or steel” products.

In terms of the trade balance, there was a large deficit, in fact, it grew by 63.21 per cent, this measured by the fact that imports from Colombia were 10.79 billion dollars and exports totaled 8,003 million dollars, leaving a deficit of about 2,786 million dollars.

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