Foreign direct investment in Colombia had a notable drop in the first quarter of 2023. The total amount of said investment was reduced by more than 530 million dollars, 12.2 percent less annually, going from 4,832 million to 4,305 million in the last year ended in March, according to figures reported by the Bank of the Republic.
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Foreign direct investment is not only represented in resources but also in machinery and equipment that are brought into the country to strengthen these investments, as well as the reinvestment of profits by foreign businessmen with a presence in the country.
As recalled, last year the country had record figures on this front, which were close to 16.7 billion dollars, the vast majority of these (83.2 percent) concentrated in investments in different sectors such as oil, finance, agriculture, construction and the manufacturing industry, among others.
In the first three months of this year, the rest of the sectors monopolized the majority of that investment coming from abroad, 3,560 million dollars or 82.7 percent. However, on this front there is a reduction of 17.4 percent per year or 747 million, according to official figures.
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Despite the decline observed in foreign direct investment in that period of the year, the 4,305 million dollars constitute the third best figure recorded, for that quarter, since 2015.
Sectors in which they invest the most
Oil, financial and business services were the sectors that channeled the most foreign investment in the first three months of 2023. The first of these obtained an investment of 745 million dollars, with an annual increase close to 42 percent.
The second received foreign resources for 737 million dollars, but unlike the oil tanker, there is a strong drop of 65.6 percent compared to March 20223.
Another of the lines of national economic activity that had a good participation of foreign investment in that period of the year was the exploitation of mines and quarries. to which resources of the order of 607 million dollars arrived, marking a rebound of 107 percent per year.
The manufacturing industry followed in his order with 583 million dollars, 45.4 percent more than a year ago; transport, storage and communications with 440 million and a fall of 43 percent per year, and commerce, restaurants and hotels with 422 million and a growth of one hundred percent, compared to the data from a year ago.
