Economic recovery and unemployment triggered trade deficit between January and July Economy

Revealed by the National Administration of Statistics (DANE) Imports rose 31.7% to $ 4,801.4 million in July Imports reached $ 31,454.2 million between January and July, compared to 2020 and 5.2% in the same month before the outbreak, 28.9% more than in the same period above and 3.4% higher than in 2019.

In this sense, Colombia had a trade deficit of US $ 1,209.2 million in July, An increase of 34.5% compared to July 2020 and 9.5% compared to the same month in 2019. So far this year, the deficit has reached US $ 8,165.8 million, an increase of 52.2% compared to the same period in 2020 and 49.2% in the first seven months of 2019.

According to Camilo Perez, an economist at Banco de Bogot, the data “confirms that. Local functional dynamics are even stronger This is what leads to such a strong demand for goods from abroad.

But next, he pointed out, “we have a somewhat deficient trade balance, which on the one hand has to do with the good dynamics of imports, but on the other hand has been shocked by the weakness of exports.” If not contagious, in addition, due to May blockages, they are very vulnerable and they have not yet fully recovered, especially traditional exports.

According to Perez, Juan Pablo Espinoza, head of economic research at Grubo Bangolombia, said the trade deficit was being explained because “July could still be felt. Strong impact on the export sector due to sanctions at the end of the second quarter, The operations of ports such as Bhubaneswar continued to suffer during that period and were affected by oil exports, which continued to be successful despite a change in course in July compared to the values ​​exported in previous years.

Espinoza analyzed, “Even taking into account the effects of import activity, blockades and demonstrations throughout 2021 is very strong, i.e. Domestic demand recovery has been massive”.

According to Dane, between January and July, the production group’s imports increased by US $ 24,321.8 million and 32.1%, compared to the same period in 2020, with higher purchases of machinery and equipment from transport (30.9%) and products and related products (35.7%). Together they contributed 23.8 percent to the group’s variability.

“The inputs, capital materials and intermediate products of construction are very significant,” Perez said.

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Imported by country of birth

China and the United States continue to be the top importers to Colombia, followed by Mexico, Brazil, Germany and India. According to Dane, between January and July 2021, China accounted for 23.9% of total imports, while the United States accounted for 23.3%. Similarly, imports from China increased by 33.4%. This increase was explained by the increased purchase of glycosides. On the other hand, the biggest reduction in imports from Ecuador is due to lower external energy purchases.