Colombia

The Republic of Colombia is located in Northern South America bordering Venezuela, Panama, Ecuador, Brazil, Peru, the Pacific Ocean, and the Caribbean Sea. It is about twice the size of Texas and covers an area of1,138,910sq. kilometers. Colombia’s total population is 45.64 million and is growing at a rate of 1.1% with 75% living in urban areas. The capital city of Bogota has a population of 6.7 million with other main cities including Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, and Cartagena. The people are governed by a republic and are predominantly Roman Catholic. The official language used is Spanish and the currency used is the Colombian Peso.

Colombia’s economy has experienced a period of accelerated growth since a 2002 with an average of 7% annual growth. Since 2002, unemployment has reduced by 25% and poverty has been cut by 20%. Its main trade partners are the US, Venezuela, China, Mexico, Brazil, and Ecuador. Its primary imports are industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, and electricity. Exports consist of petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, emeralds, apparel, bananas, and cut flowers. Colombia’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) is $511 billion and is growing at a real rate of 4% with an inflation rate of 3.2%. Colombia ranked 33thout of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.

Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Colombia

Colombia Franchise Market Report(2016)

Viva Global Expansion! Trade Mission to Latin America (2012)

Latin American Market Sizzles with U.S. Franchisors (2012)

US Commercial Service Market Report Colombia(2008)

International Business Strategies Market Report Colombia(2008)

News From Around the World: Latin America(2008)

The Future of Latin America(2007)

* CPI Scoreis published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

**Ease of Doing Business Rankingis determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries.www.doingbusiness.org

Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise.

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