Three years of steady FDI growth in Colombia

Colombia has enjoyed three years of consecutive growth in inward FDI, according to cross-border investment monitor fDi Markets.

As a destination country, Colombia ranked third behind Brazil and Mexico in investment in Latin America and the Caribbean between January 2015 and December 2017, with 8.11% of total projects. During this period, inward FDI experienced year-on-year growth in project numbers in Colombia. A total of 309 investment projects were recorded by 249 companies, which created 58,011 jobs.

In 2015, 85 companies invested in the country and the 97 projects they recorded generated $2.67bn in capital investment. During 2016, a total of 87 investing companies recorded 101 projects and generated $2.92bn in capital investment, representing increases of 4.12% in project numbers and 9.64% capital investment respectively.

During this period, Colombia welcomed a notable surge in 2015 with job creation hitting 21,041. Despite this, job creation fell by 2.23% and 20.29% in 2016 and 2017 respectively. In stark contrast to job creation, capital investment into Colombia rose between 2015 and 2016 with a 9.64% increase. While capital investment peaked in 2016 at $2.92bn, Colombia witnessed a decrease of 0.19% in 2017 compared with the previous year. The data suggests that job creation has declined in the period and capital investment has fluctuated to a certain extent. However, project numbers have shown a year-on-year increase from 2015 onwards with an influx of 109 projects in 2017.

Comparing 2017 figures to 2015 shows that the number of companies investing in Colombia increased by 17.65%, the number of projects recorded rose by 12.37% and the amount of capital investment ascended by 9.43%. In addition, projects numbers in the period January to June 2018 (86) are close to exceeding the total number of projects recorded in 2017 (109).