According to DANE, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) registered a modest growth of 0.3% in the second quarter of 2023.
The results of the Colombian economy, released on August 15 by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), were practically “sung” by the Center for Economic Studies (ANIF) in its recent projections, predicting, as it happened, a modest growth of 0.3% in the second quarter of 2023.
This contrasts, notes the entity, with the strong growth of 12.2% in the same period of the previous year. In addition, the slowdown of the product is evident, “since we had registered a growth of 3% in the first quarter.
On this occasion, the economy managed to find public administration, health and education, artistic and entertainment activities, as well as mining, the main growth engine.
The strong performance of the public administration is due to the payment of the retroactive salary of 2023, which increases the generation of added value. For its part, health activity registered significant growth due to the increase in services provided.
On the other hand, the weakening of demand hindered the growth of manufacturing, which translated into a 4.0% drop in added value, mainly due to the production of textiles.
Similarly, trade contracted due to the lower dynamics of new vehicle sales and the purchase of durable and semi-durable goods. In the case of civil works, these fell 17.9% and led construction as a whole to register a decrease of 3.7%.
Even though the economy avoided going into negative territory in the second quarter, the year-to-date shows a timid variation of 1.7%. Key sectors such as industry and commerce, which are an important thermometer of demand, have been registering decreases and are compromising the average performance of the economy in the second half of the year.