Diana Irimiea AISI, 1st Year

Colombia Unemployment Rate

Colombia is located in the northwest corner of South America and is the continent’s most

populous Spanish-speaking nation. Roughly twice the geographic size of France, Colombia is

bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, as well as Panama, Venezuela, Brazil,

Peru and Ecuador.

Colombia is classified as an upper middle-income economy and is one of Latin America's

largest economies, according to the International Monetary Fund. The country's economy is

shaped by its land and like many South American nations is based in its rich natural resources.

Agriculture and commodity-driven industries are a large part of the economy, with

petroleum, coal, gold and coffee as the top exports. Industries such as textiles and services such

as telecommunications along with tourism are also strong economic components.

The unemployment rate in Colombia increased to 10.8 percent in March 2019 from 9.4

percent in the corresponding month of the previous year. The number of unemployed roses by

386 thousand to 2.68 million and the number of employed went up by 52 thousand to 22.11

million. 1

Meantime, the employment rate dropped to 56.0 percent from 56.4 percent while the

activity rate advanced to 63.5 percent from 63.2 percent in March 2018. Unemployment Rate in

Colombia averaged 11.43 percent from 2001 until 2019, reaching an all-time high of 17.87

percent in January of 2002 and a record low of 7.30 percent in November of 2015.2

1 https://tradingeconomics.com/colombia/unemployment-rate
2 https://tradingeconomics.com/colombia/unemployment-rate
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3 https://tradingeconomics.com/colombia/unemployment-rate
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More than 12.7 million people in Colombia live on less than $2 a day. According to

Opportunity Columbia, an organization to enable marginalized people to engage in the local

economy, only 2.5 percent of Colombians are using microfinance services.4

Additional facts about poverty in Colombia show that in rural areas, more than 7 million

people are poor and 2 million are living in extreme poverty.

The unequal distribution of the country’s wealth and welfare resources affects Colombian

people and is a cause of poverty. The country’s income concentration is very high compared to

the international averages. The per capita income of the richest ten percent is 46 times greater

than those of the poorest ten percent.

In 81 percent of poor rural homes in Colombia, there is no connection to the piped-water

network. Additionally, 68 percent of the population suffers from overcrowding.5

Colombia is not a country of opportunities for young people; half of the unemployed

population is under 28 years of age. This conclusion is based on a study of the Free University

made after analysing official data from the National Administrative Department of Statistics

(DANE) and the Ministry of Labour.

According to this report, there are currently close to 3,400,000 unemployed young people of

a population of 12,700,000 people aged between 18 and 28. In other words, the unemployment

rate for this group, which represents 27% of the population of Colombia, is about 17%. By

gender, women are worse off than men because 23% are unable to find jobs compared to 13.7%

of men.

4 https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-poverty-in-colombia/
5 https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-poverty-in-colombia/
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