Colombian GDP grows 1.8pc in 2017

Colombia’s gross domestic product rose 1.8 per cent in 2017, the lowest in eight years, the government’s DANE statistics agency said.

The Latin America’s fourth largest economy expanded more than the market expected in 2017 compared with the previous year, even as growth remains tepid, the government said on Thursday.

The growth was in line with government estimates, but higher than the 1.6 per cent expected by the market. The government forecasts 2.7 per cent growth this year.

The economy grew 1.6 per cent during the fourth quarter versus the same period in 2016, when it expanded 1.8 per cent, reports Reuters.

The country has spent two years grappling with the fallout from a decline in oil prices and an ongoing drop in consumer spending, but Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas and the central bank have said that the worst is over and growth should pick up over the year.

Agriculture and finance were the top sectors boosting annual growth, expanding by 4.9 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively. Social services rose 3.4 per cent and the retail sector was up 1.2 per cent.

The mining and energy sector, an important engine of growth, contracted by 3.6 per cent, construction fell 0.7 per cent, and manufacturing shrank by 1.0 per cent.

Colombia’s GDP rose 0.3 per cent during the fourth quarter versus the third, DANE said.