Bogotá's economy grew 10.3% in 2021

On Tuesday of this week, the National Department of Statistics (DANE) and the Secretariat of the Economic Development Zone stated that Bogotá reported economic growth of 10.3% over the course of 2021.

These organizations highlighted that 10 of the 12 economic activities carried out in Bogotá increased last year. “Wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing industry, arts, entertainment and recreation, public administration and defense, education and health accounted for 78.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) growth,” they said in a press release.

In this regard, the trade sector showed an increase of 16.3%, which led to a significant increase in the economy, contributing 3.6% points to added value.On the other hand, it affected the added value by 1.8% points in the industry guild.

It should be remembered that these data are presented two years after the Covid-19 pandemic experienced by the capital, as the result states in the document that “most activities have already recovered the level of activity before the pandemic”.

In fact, Alfredo Bateman, Minister of Economic Development in Bogotá, said: “The double-digit economic growth is good news for the city, especially considering that the different sectors most affected by the pandemic are the ones that have recorded the most growth.”

On the other hand, the official stressed that the Secretariat has a new challenge: “to turn these good results into more opportunities and more employment.” The capital will focus on “lagging behind” population segments, such as women, youth and those over 50 years of age in 2022, to “take advantage of the productivity gains caused by the pandemic,” added Bateman.

With these goals in mind, the Secretariat praised the work it performs through issues such as young employment, entrepreneurs and productive women programs and payments for employability outcomes.

A report published by DANE and the Secretariat also highlighted the economic performance of capital for the last quarter of 2021. “The consolidation of the reactivation process is reflected more strongly, showing a growth of 11.2% over the same period of the previous year, which corresponds to a recovery of 106.8% compared to the same quarter of 2019.”

During that period, all economic activities were carried out positively. Wholesale and retail trade, manufacturing industry, public administration and defense, education and health, arts, entertainment and recreation activities contributed 70.6% to added value.

Even 10 of these 12 activities achieved a total value of more than 100% compared to data recorded in Q4 2019. DANE and the Secretariat highlighted the recovery of arts, entertainment and recreation activities at 116.5%, and the Information and Communications Coalition at 115%. “These are the sectors that have had the largest recovery from pre-pandemic levels, at 118.8% and 110.4% respectively.” I added that.

The results presented in front of the capital this Tuesday go hand in hand with a report published by DANE in February. The figure presented by the Bank showed a growth of 10.6%, which positions Colombia as one of the countries in the world with the highest economic growth in 2021.

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