Colombia: one of the best environments in Latin America for doing business and one of the most competitive countries in the region. 

In the past decade, Colombia has single-mindedly focused on improving the business climate. As a result, inward foreign direct investment (FDI) has been soaring. Colombia is seen by investors as a dependable, stable place to operate.

Booming Investment

Thanks to the stable and favorable business climate for investors, investment inflows hit a peak in 2022 with more than USD 17 billions of FDI, a historic figure in Colombia. In 2022, foreign investment was USD 17.048 billion. This figure showed an increase of 81.7% between 2021 and 2022 and a 122% recovery rate compared to 2019.

Source: Colombia’s Central Bank, Balance of payments.

In fact, according to investment trends, Colombia was the fourth country in the region with the highest FDI flows in 2021, which sets it as one of the best countries to invest in the region after Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. 

Source: UNCTAD, World Investment Report 2022

Growing International Trade

Thanks to trade liberalization measures, Colombia’s international trade reached USD 115 billion in 2022. In that year, trade in the country increased 13% and reached higher levels than those of 2021, evidencing Colombia’s rapid economic recovery after Covid-19. Bogota Region has shown a better performance in exports compared to Colombia. Exports from the Bogota Region increased by 26.7%, while the country experienced a 7.3% decrease.  

Source: DANE, Trade Balance.

Business Climate in Bogota Region

Bogota Region: One of the most competitive Cities with an excellent Climate to Do Business in Latin America

Bogota is ranked as one of the cities of the future. Bogota has the second place of the ranking of Latin America’s cities of the future – fDi Magazine 2021 – 2022).

Bogotá has been classified as one of the cities with the best strategy for attracting foreign direct investment. Bogotá ranks eighth in the ranking of cities of the future of America by fDi Magazine (2021 – 2022).

Significant Foreign Direct Investment

FDI has made an important contribution to boosting productivity and economic development in Bogota Region. It has not only enriched the city’s productive offer, but also contributed to job creation, which, given the characteristics of the city, has served to promote the employment of young people and women in Bogota Region.

In 2022, Bogota Region received 143 new and expansion FDI projects, worth USD 1,539 million, and it is estimated that these projects have resulted in the creation of 20,952 jobs. It is important to highlight that FDI projects increased 24.3% and there was a 3.7% increase in the number of jobs generated, compared to 2021.

Process: Invest in Bogota base on information of fDi Markets, Orbis Crossborder, Procolombia, Invest in Bogota, and corporative websites.
*Greenfield investment expansion

Over the last five years, Bogota-Region has received approximately USD 9,862 million in new and expansion FDI.

Software and IT services is the leading sector in attracting investment to Bogota Region. During the last five years, the industry accounted for 20.2% of FDI projects in the city. Business services ranks as the second sector with the largest number of FDI projects, with a 14.2% share. These figures portray Bogota’s vocation as a city of services. The availability, quality and labor cost, bilingual professionals and Bogota’s strategic position have contributed to investors perceiving the region as an ideal destination for the development of their services and programming activities.

Finally, other important sectors driving FDI in Bogota Region between 2018 and 2022 are textiles (8.5%), consumer products (8.0%), communications (6.8%) and financial services (4.6%).

Process: Invest in Bogota base on information of fDi Markets, Orbis Crossborder, Procolombia, Invest in Bogota, and corporative websites.
*Greenfield investment expansion.

Between 2018 and 2022, more than 50 countries have invested in Bogota Region. The diversity of interested markets evidences the potential and confidence of foreign companies to expand their operations in Bogota Region. Additionally, the United States is positioned as the main investor in the city, accounting for 25.6% of the projects. Among the top 10 investors in the city, European countries such as Spain (14.4%), France (5.4%), Germany (4.7%) and the United Kingdom (3.0%) stand out, in addition to countries in the region such as Mexico (5.4%), Argentina (5.1%) and Chile (3.5%).

PProcess: Invest in Bogota base on information of fDi Markets, Orbis Crossborder, Procolombia, Invest in Bogota, and corporative websites.

*Corresponds to new (greenfield) and expansion investment. Figures for 2021 presented in this report are preliminary and are subject to update based on the information recorded in the sources.

As one of the major business cities in Latin America, Bogota has great opportunities to invest. Invest in Bogota has identified 1,712 foreign capital companies in the region in 2022.

Source: Chamber of commerce of Bogota, Department of Studies and Research based on information from the commercial registry.

Updated (mm/dd/yyyy): 30.04.2023