economy
May 6, 2026
Colombia Registers One of the Biggest Drops in Fiscal Revenue Relative to GDP in the Entire Region
Portafolio Journalist 05.05.2026 17:22 Updated: 05.05.2026 17:22
TL;DR
- Colombia's national tax collection fell to 19.9% of GDP in 2024, a 2.2 percentage point decrease from the previous year.
- The primary cause of the decline was a significant reduction in corporate income tax.
- A Constitutional Court ruling on royalty deductibility generated large tax credits for oil and mining companies, reducing their annual tax liabilities.
- Fiscal revenue from hydrocarbon exploration and production dropped from 3.4% of GDP in 2023 to 1.8% in 2024.
- Mining revenue contracted historically, falling from 1.37% of GDP in 2023 to 0.19% in 2024.
- The effectiveness of VAT collection in Colombia is among the lowest in the analyzed sample.
- Social security contributions represent only 8.5% of total revenue, lower than in other regional models.