What are the economic sectors of a country? What do they have to do with the economy? In this article we reveal these questions, and also explain in detail the economic sectors of Colombia .

As we will see, we find the sectors according to the classical division (primary, secondary and tertiary) and the sectors classified by their type of economic activity. In total we are talking about 9 sectors, which we will explain below.

Economic sectors in Colombia

First of all, remember that Colombia is a country in South America, whose capital is Bogota . Its population in 2019 is more than 48 million inhabitants.

As far as the subject under discussion is concerned, the economic sectors of a country, territory or state are those divisions of its economic activity. According to the classic division of the economy, Colombia’s economic sectors are divided into three: the primary sector (agriculture), the secondary sector (industry) and the tertiary sector (services).

However, depending on the type of economic activity, there are nine of these sectors (three of which are the ones already mentioned). The six “new” sectors are: the transport sector, the financial sector, the trade sector, the construction sector, the mining and energy sector and the communications sector.

Different activities are derived from each of these economic sectors, which are specialized and independent of each other. Thus, we will first review the three economic sectors of Colombia according to the classic division, and then we will comment on the remaining six, according to their economic activity.

It is important to say before, however, that the six sectors classified according to their economic activity, are part of one of the three initial sectors (primary, secondary or tertiary), as we will see throughout the article.

Some figures

Before explaining the different economic sectors of Colombia, but, let’s mention some figures of the country’s economy (specifically, its different sectors).

According to DANE, which is the National Administrative Department of Statistics, 48% of the country’s economic establishments correspond to commerce, 40% to service provision (tertiary sector) and 12% to industry (secondary sector).

As for GDP (Gross Domestic Product), this is an indicator that countries use to measure their economic wealth. It is based on a mathematical formula, and each country has its own GDP.

According to the DANE, in the case of Colombia, the contributions of the economic sectors of Colombia to the GDP are the following, in order of highest to lowest: financial sector (20%), services sector (15.3%), commerce sector (12%), industrial sector (8.3%), mining and oil sector (8%), construction sector (6.9%), agricultural sector (6%) and electricity and gas sector (2.6%).

While it is true that this data may have changed a little at present. Now, we are going to talk about the economic sectors of Colombia, according to the classical division and according to the type of activities that make them up .

According to the classical division of the economy

According to the classic division of sectors already mentioned, we find three big economic sectors of Colombia , which at the same time group specialized and independent activities. These three are the following.

1. Primary sector

The primary sector includes basic production . Also called agricultural sector, it includes those economic activities that are related to obtaining goods and products that come directly from nature. That is, it is the “direct” product, which has not obtained any conversion.

Agriculture is the main activity developed within this sector (agricultural sector), and it is defined as the set of knowledge and tools necessary to obtain plant products through their cultivation.

2. Secondary sector

The second of the economic sectors in Colombia, according to the classic division, is the secondary sector (industry). The main characteristic of this sector is that it includes all those industrial procedures that have the objective of transforming the raw materials obtained from the first sector (agricultural).

The final product of these transformations is that which can already be consumed. Within this sector we find economic activities such as: mining, construction, textile activities, etc.

3. Tertiary sector

The third economic sector is the provision of services, and includes activities related to this purpose. Thus, it includes the activities that offer/provide some type of service to the community and to companies (i.e. to people in general).

Some of the activities we find in the tertiary sector are: medicine, education, commerce, tourism, telecommunications, finance, etc.

This is an important sector for the economy to flow. Thus, it is essential that it works properly so that the economic sectors of Colombia already mentioned are more productive.

According to the economic activity developed

Now we are going to see the six main economic sectors of Colombia according to their type of economic activity . Some of them we have already mentioned throughout the article, because they are part of one of the three initial sectors.

1. The transport sector

The transport sector includes the mobilisation of different goods, either by land or air. For it to function properly, it is important that the road infrastructure is adequate.

On the other hand, thanks to the low-cost airlines in Colombia, more and more Colombians are deciding to travel.

2. The financial sector

The financial sector includes the provision of money, transactions, trade, etc. In short, finance. This sector in Colombia registered an annual growth of 2.7% in 2016. In this year there was talk of a Colombian asset of $1,346.6 billion.

3. The trade sector

Another of Colombia’s economic sectors, according to its activity, is trade. Specifically, in Colombia this sector occupies the fourth position in the GDP since 4 years ago (after agriculture, manufacturing and finance). In Colombia, in the last years, the services with more turnover were the hotels, bars and restaurants.

4. The construction sector

The construction sector is part of the (secondary) industry sector. If we talk about figures, the DANE (National Administrative Department of Statistics) reveals that its growth in Colombia went from 4.18% (m2 built) to 4.56% (m2 ), from 2015 to 2016, respectively.

5. The mining and energy sector

The next in line of Colombia’s economic sectors is mining and energy. This is a sector that has suffered several crises or “falls” in Colombia, the first in 2007, and the second in 2016, as a result of the drop in oil prices.

6. The communications sector

The communications sector is ranked ninth in the list of economic activities that bring the most economic benefits to the gross domestic product (GDP). The boom in telephone companies in Colombia is undeniable.

On the other hand, two important advances in this sector are the incorporation of broadband for homes and 4g technology for mobiles.

Bibliographic references:

  • DANE (National Administrative Department of Statistics).
  • GEM Colombia. Study of the business activity in 2017. (2019). Universidad del Norte, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana de Cali, Universidad ICESI.
  • Zoltan K. (2012). The primary, secondari, tertiary and quaternary sectors of the economy, 359-385.