The trade balance deficit decreased, going from US$1,081.9 million FOB to US$686.6 million FOB between March 2023 and 2024.
According to the import declarations registered with the National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN) in March 2024, Colombian imports were US$ 4,757.3 million CIF and presented a decrease of 18.8% compared to the same month. of 2023.
This behavior was mainly due to the 22.1% decrease in the Manufacturing group. This line participated with 71.1% of the total CIF value of imports, followed by Agriculture, food and beverages with 16.5%, Fuels and products from the extractive industries with 12.4% and Other sectors with 0.1%. .
IMPORTS BY SECTOR
In March 2024, imports of Manufacturing in Colombia were US$ 3,382.1 million CIF and presented a decrease of 22.1% compared to March 2023, as a result of lower purchases of Machinery and transport equipment (-31 .2%) that contributed -15.6 percentage points to the variation of the group.
For its part, imports of the group of Fuels and products from the extractive industries were US$ 589.4 million CIF and presented a growth of 21%, compared to the same period of the previous year.
The product that contributed the most to the increase was Natural and manufactured gas, which contributed 22.5 percentage points to the total variation of the group and is in the group called “others”.
External purchases of the Agricultural, food and beverage group also fell, which were US$ 782.8 million CIF, with a reduction of 23.6% compared to March 2023.
This result was explained by lower imports of Food Products and Live Animals (-19.6%), which contributed 15.6 negative percentage points to the group's variation.
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN OF IMPORTS
In March 2024, Colombian imports originating in the United States accounted for 29.2% of total imports. External purchases followed from:
- China
- Brazil
- France
- Mexico
- Germany
- India
In March 2024 compared to March 2023, the most important contribution came from purchases originating in the United States (-15.9%) and Germany (-49.7%), contributing a total of 7.2 negative percentage points. to the total variation of the month (-18.8%).
In contrast, imports from France (12.1%) contributed 0.5 percentage points to the total variation for the month.
The decrease in imports originating in the United States in March 2024 compared to March 2023 was explained by lower purchases of Aircraft of more than 15,000 kg (-100.0%) and Oilseed cakes (-41.8% ).
BALANCE OF TRADE
In March 2024, a deficit of US$686.6 million FOB was recorded in the Colombian trade balance, while in March 2023 there was a deficit of US$1,081.9 million FOB.
