Colombia’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2% in the second quarter of this year, a full percentage point less than in the same period last year and the lowest growth rate since the 2009 financial crisis.
The economic drop is partly due to the ongoing crisis in the oil industry where prices have tumbled since the second half of 2014.
Colombia’s economy, particularly its exports, depends heavily on the oil sector and has shown a downward trend similar to that of crude oil.
Colombia’s GDP growth per quarter
According to the DANE, Colombia’s statistics agency, the economic slowdown measured in the second quarter is due to a major contraction of the domestic oil and mining industry.
The GDP of Colombia’s manufacturing industry, which has benefited from a cheap peso, grew an impressive 6% compared to the second quarter of last year.
The financial and real estate markets also performed better than average.
However, those sectors were unable to cover the 7.1% contraction of the GDP of Colombia’s oil and mining industry.
Additionally, major agricultural and transport strikes held during the second quarter pushed down growth in their sectors.
According to the OECD, Colombia’s economy will continue to grow slowly until 2017 when a slight improvement is expected.
