Bogotá, Jul 2 (EFE) .- Colombia’s exports stood at 3,097 million dollars last May, a growth of 39.4% compared to the same month of 2020 when they totaled 2,221.2 million dollars, reported this Friday the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade, Laura Valdivieso, highlighted on Twitter this growth as a result that ratifies the “tendency and vocation of foreign trade to be a source of growth and job creation for reactivation.”
THE BOOST OF FUELS
The increase in sales abroad was driven by the growth of the group of fuels and products of the extractive industries, which grew by 66.5%, going from 953.5 million in May of last year to 1,587.4% in the fifth month of 2021.
“This behavior was mainly explained by the increase in sales of oil, petroleum products and related products (119.9%) that contributed 69.2 percentage points to the group’s variation,” DANE said in a technical bulletin.
Another group that increased its exports in May was manufacturing, as sales reached 531.6 million dollars and increased 23.6% compared to the fifth month of 2020.
“External sales of agricultural products, food and beverages were 688.7 million dollars and presented a growth of 12.2% compared to May 2020,” added that institution.
EXPORTS OF THE FIRST 5 MONTHS
In the first five months of 2021, exports reached 14,995.7 million dollars, a growth of 16.4% compared to the same period in 2020 and also driven by the group of fuels and products from the extractive industries.
