t ranked among the lowest in Latin America and
was substantially lower than the average annual growth rate exceeding
4% that Colombia posted for several decades prior to SAMPER's
election. Colombia's next president will inherit a variety of economic
problems. Most notably, the unemployment rate is at its highest level
this decade, risks for the export sector and foreign investors are
rising as a result of increasing guerrilla violence and a volatile
exchange rate, and the fiscal deficit has more than tripled since
1994.

GDP: purchasing power parity-$231.1 billion (1997 est.)

GDP-real growth rate: 3.1% (1997 est.)

GDP-per capita: purchasing power parity-$6,200 (1997 est.)

GDP-composition by sector:
agriculture: 19%
industry: 26%
services: 55% (1996)

Inflation rate-consumer price index: 17.7% (1997 est.)

Labor force:
total: 16.8 million (1997 est.)
by occupation: services 46%, agriculture 30%, industry 24% (1990)

Unemployment rate: 12.2% (1997 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $26 billion (1996 est.)
expenditures: $30 billion including capital expenditures of $NA (1996
est.)

Industries: textiles, food processing, oil, clothing and footwear,
beverages, chemicals, cement; gold, coal, emeralds

Industrial production growth rate: -1.2% (1996)

Electricity-capacity: 10.781 million kW (1995)

Electricity-production: 47 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity-consumption per capita: 1,307 kWh (1995)

Agriculture-products: coffee, cut flowers, bananas, rice, tobacco,
corn, sugarcane, cocoa beans, oilseed, vegetables; forest products;
shrimp farming

Exports:
total value: $11.4 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: petroleum, coffee, coal, bananas, fresh cut flowers
partners: US 39%, EC 25.7%, Japan 2.9%, Venezuela 8.5% (1992)

Imports:
total value: $13.5 billion (c.i.f., 1997 est.)
commodities: industrial equipment, transportation equipment, consumer
goods, chemicals, paper products
partners: US 36%, EC 18%, Brazil 4%, Venezuela 6.5%, Japan 8.7% (1992)

Debt-external: $17.1 billion (1997 est.)

Economic aid:
recipient: ODA, $30 million (1993)

Currency: 1 Colombian peso (Col$) = 100 centavos

Exchange rates: Colombian pesos (Col$) per US$1-1345.0 (February
1998), 1,140.96 (1997), 1,036.69 (1996), 912.83 (1995), 844.84 (1994),
863.06 (1993)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Communications

Telephones: 1.89 million (1986 est.)

Telephone system: modern system in many respects
domestic: nationwide micro