Economy—overview: Columbia is recovering from a short recession that began in late 1996 - resulting from tight monetary policy to drive down inflation declining business confidence related to President SAMPER's political difficulties and a slowdown in exports stemming from an appreciation of the peso and a recession in neighboring Venezuela. Although 1997's 3.1% GDP growth rate represented an improvement over 1996 it ranked among the lowest in Latin America and was substantially lower than the average annual growth rate exceeding 4% that Colombia posted for several decades prior to SAMPER's election. Colombia's next president will inherit a variety of economic problems. Most notably the unemployment rate is at its highest level this decade risks for the export sector and foreign investors are rising as a result of increasing guerrilla violence and a volatile exchange rate and the fiscal deficit has more than tripled since 1994.

GDP: purchasing power parity—$231.1 billion (1997 est.)

GDP—real growth rate: 3.1% (1997 est.)

GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$6 200 (1997 est.)

GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 19%
industry: 26%
services: 55% (1996)

Inflation rate—consumer price index: 17.7% (1997 est.)

Labor force:
total: 16.8 million (1997 est.)
by occupation: services 46% agriculture 30% industry 24% (1990)

Unemployment rate: 12.2% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $26 billion (1996 est.)
expenditures: $30 billion including capital expenditures of $NA (1996 est.)

Industries: textiles food processing oil clothing and footwear beverages chemicals cement; gold coal emeralds

Industrial production growth rate: -1.2% (1996)

Electricity—capacity: 10.781 million kW (1995)

Electricity—production: 47 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity—consumption per capita: 1 307 kWh (1995)

Agriculture—products: coffee cut flowers bananas rice tobacco corn sugarcane cocoa beans oilseed vegetables; forest products; shrimp farming

Exports:
total value: $11.4 billion (f.o.b. 1997 est.)
commodities: petroleum coffee coal bananas fresh cut flowers
partners: US 39% EC 25.7% Japan 2.9% Venezuela 8.5% (1992)

Imports:
total value: $13.5 billion (c.i.f. 1997 est.)
commodities: industrial equipment transportation equipment consumer goods chemicals paper products
partners: US 36% EC 18% Brazil 4% Venezuela 6.5% Japan 8.7% (1992)

Debt—external: $17.1 billion (1997 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA $30 million (1993)

Currency: 1 Colombian peso (Col$) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: Colombian pesos (Col$) per US$1—1345.0 (February 1998) 1 140.96 (1997) 1 036.69 (1996) 912.83 (1995) 844.84 (1994) 863.06 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year