Home Country of Origin Information Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests Responses to Information Requests (RIR) are research reports on country conditions. They are requested by IRB decision makers. The database contains a seven-year archive of English and French RIR. Earlier RIR may be found on the European Country of Origin Information Network website. Please note that some RIR have attachments which are not electronically accessible here. To obtain a copy of an attachment, please e-mail us. Related Links • Advanced search help 13 May 2020 COL200220.E Colombia: The socio-economic situation, including demographics, employment rates, and economic sectors, particularly in Barranquilla, Bucaramanga and Ibagué (2017- May 2020) Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 1. National Overview According to sources, the National Administrative Department of Statistics (Departamento Administrativo Nacional de Estadística, DANE) reported, after conducting the 2018 census, that the population of Colombia was 45.5 million (Vellejo Zamudio 2 July 2019, 11; EIU 15 Nov. 2018). The same sources state that the results of the 2018 census, the first since 2005, were criticized due to the discrepancy between DANE's population projection and the census, with the projection calculating a population of 50 million (Vellejo Zamudio 2 July 2019, 11; EIU 15 Nov. 2018). According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [1], DANE stated that the discrepancy stems from inaccuracy in the population projection and not the census (EIU 15 Nov. 2018). The 2019 Economic Survey of Colombia by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports that Colombia had a population of 48.3 million in 2018 (OECD Oct. 2019, 8). For demographic information on Afro-Colombians, see Response to Information Request COL200219 of May 2020. Sources, citing DANE, indicate that Colombia's unemployment rate was 12.2 percent in February 2020 (Reuters 30 Apr. 2020; CE Noticias Financieras 30 Apr. 2020), compared to 10.8 percent in March 2019 (Reuters 30 Apr. 2020). Reuters, citing DANE, states that 70 percent of the workforce is located in large cities, and that the urban unemployment rate was 11.5 percent in February 2020 (Reuters 30 Apr. 2020). The OECD, based on data collected from a number of organizations, including DANE, indicates that in 2018 the employment rate for persons between 15 and 64 years of age was 66.4 percent, the unemployment rate for persons aged 15 and over was 9.7 percent and the youth unemployment rate (for people between age 15 and 24), was 19.7 percent (OECD Oct. 2019, 8). According to a 2018 urban labour market report for 13 urban areas [2] by Colombia's Department of National Planning (Departamento Nacional de Planeación, DNP), based on data from DANE's integrated household survey (Gran encesta integrada de hogares, GEIH), the male unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in 2018, and the female unemployment rate was 12.6 percent (Colombia May 2019a, 6). The same source, citing DANE's GEIH, reports that women earned 84.5 percent of the income of their male counterparts in 2018 (Colombia May 2019a, 9). Colombia Reports, a Medellín-based news site (Colombia Reports n.d.), citing DANE, states that the national poverty rate was estimated at 27 percent, with 7.2 percent living in extreme poverty, and the urban poverty rate was 16.2 percent in 2018 (Colombia Reports 5 May 2019). A report by Colombia's DNP on monetary and multidimensional poverty covering the period from 2010 to 2017, based on data from DANE's GEIH, states that, nationally in 2017, there were 116 women in poverty for every 100 men in the same situation, while there were 127 women in extreme poverty for every 100 men (Colombia July 2018, 65-66). Sources indicate that the biggest employment sector is the service sector, followed by the industrial and agricultural sectors (Santander Trade Apr. 2020; LO/FTF Council Feb. 2018, 11). The Labour Market Profile 2018 for Colombia by Ulandssekretariatet LO/FTF Council (Danish Trade Union Council for International Development Cooperation, LO/FTF Council) [3], citing DANE data covering the period of November 2016 to January 2017, describes the primary employment sectors as follows: • Trade, restaurants and hotels, 28 percent; • Community, social and personal services, 19 percent; • Agriculture, livestock, fishing, hunting and forestry, 16 percent; • Manufacturing, 12 percent; • Real estate, business and rental activities, 8.1 percent; • Transport, storage and communication, 7.9 percent (LO/FTF Council Feb. 2018, 12). Colombia Reports, citing 2019 survey data collected by DANE, indicates that 15.6 percent of Colombians were victims of a crime in 2018 and 71.3 percent of citizens did not report crimes to the authorities (Colombia Reports 18 Oct. 2019). The same source states that DANE's rates for urban areas were "considerably lower" than those reported by municipalities; for example, DANE reports that 8.6 percent of the population of Medellín were victims of crime in 2018, compared to 15 percent reported by the municipality itself (Colombia Reports 18 Oct. 2019). 2. Barranquilla (Capital of the Atlántico Department) An article on the urban growth of Barranquilla published in the journal Sustainability [4] states that the Barranquilla Metropolitan Area (BMA) [5] comprises five municipalities, including Barranquilla, Puerto Colombia, Soledad, Malambo and Galapa, with Barranquilla as the core municipality (Aldana-Domínguez, et al. 29 June 2018, 2, 3). Sources indicate that Barranquilla is the fourth-largest city in Colombia (Universidad del Norte n.d.; Schubert, et al., 6 Dec. 2018, 2). According to DANE's 2018 census, the total ([translation] "[a]djusted") population of Barranquilla in 2018 was 1,206,319 and there were 52 women for every 100 residents in Barranquilla (Colombia 2019, 39). The same source further reports that 5.2 percent of the population were Afro-Colombian, 0.1 percent were indigenous, and 0.1 percent were Palenqueros [6] (Colombia 2019, 39). The OECD, using the definition of a functional urban area (FUA) [7], states that Barranquilla had a population of 2,303,091 in 2018 (OECD n.d.). DANE reports that there were 346,988 dwellings in 2018, including 142,090 houses and 188,014 apartments (Colombia 2019, 40). The same source indicates that 99.6 percent of the population had access to electricity, and 99 percent had access to water (Colombia 2019, 40). DANE indicates that Barranquilla had an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent in the period from August to October 2019 and a poverty rate of 21.1 percent in 2018, with 2.2 percent living in extreme poverty (Colombia 2019, 41). A presentation from DANE on Barranquilla covering the period from December 2019 to February 2020 states that the employment rate was 58.6 percent and the unemployment rate was 8.9 percent (Colombia 2020a, 3). Another 2020 DANE presentation states that, for the same period, the unemployment rate for youth (persons between the ages of 14 and 28), was 16.7 percent (Colombia 2020b, 73). The 2018 urban labour market report by Colombia's DNP, based on data from DANE's GEIH, reports that the male unemployment rate for Barranquilla was 5.7 percent in 2018, and the female unemployment rate was 11.8 percent (Colombia May 2019b, 1). The same source, based on data from DANE's GEIH, further indicates that women earned 76.9 percent of the income of their male counterparts in 2018 (Colombia May 2019b, 4). The report on monetary and multidimensional poverty by Colombia's DNP, based on data from DANE's GEIH, states that in Barranquilla, in 2017, there were 109 women in poverty for every 100 men in the same situation and 145 women in extreme poverty for every 100 men (Colombia July 2018, 67). DANE describes the primary employment sectors of Barranquilla, for the period of December 2019 to February 2020, as follows: • Vehicle trade and repair, 23.7 percent; • Manufacturing industries, 12.5 percent; • Artistic activities, entertainment, recreation and other service activities, 12.0 percent; • Public administration and defense, education and health care, 10.7 percent; • Transportation and storage, 10.2 percent; • Accommodation and food services, 9.4 percent; • Construction, 8.8 percent (Colombia 2020a, 9). According to an article by Ignacio Ramos Vidal, a professor of social psychology at the University of Seville in Spain, as well as at the Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana [in Colombia], many of the internally displaced populations who relocated from rural areas to cities, such as Barranquilla, where the main employment sectors are industry and services, are working in [translation] "precarious" low-skilled jobs in the service sector, since they are unable to find employment in agriculture, the main employment sector in the areas from which they came (Ramos Vidal 2018, 307). DANE's 2019 survey on citizen safety indicates that 9.6 percent of the population (aged 15 and older) in Barranquilla were victims of a crime in 2018 (Colombia Oct. 2019, 42). El Tiempo, a national newspaper in Colombia, citing the District Administration and local authorities, states that January 2020 was the [translation] "best" month in the last five years regarding crime, with a downward trend in extortion, personal injuries, thefts and homicides (El Tiempo 4 Feb. 2020). PROCOLOMBIA [8] states that the region's transportation system includes the Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport, as well as an "excellent road network," which connects to "all" of Colombia (Colombia n.d.a). The US Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) indicates that travel between large cities, including between Bogotá and Barranquilla, can take up to two days due to an aging road network (US 18 Mar. 2019). 3. Bucaramanga (Capital of the Santander Department) Sources state that the Bucaramanga Metropolitan Area also includes Girón, Floridablanca and Piedecuesta (UIS n.d.; Invest in Santander n.d.a).