Cocaine is the Most Valuable Industry in Colombia
The Latin American country's most valuable export is illegal. With a weak state and weak economic prospects otherwise, the country's political economy will not change without a creative live player.
With a population of 52 million people, Colombia is the third-largest Latin American country after Brazil and Mexico. It had a 2023 gross national income per capita of $21,320, adjusted for purchasing power parity, making it about average for the region.1 Colombia is the world’s leading cocaine producer and the drug is very likely the country’s main export by dollar value. Its access to both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans means that the country’s drug trafficking organizations are well-positioned to supply the American, Australian, and European markets.2 The drug trade is dominated by a number of relatively decentralized trafficking organizations and anti-government armed guerilla groups. These organizations also perform some state-like functions in the key territories they control, typically rural areas where coca plant cultivation is essential to farmers’ livelihoods. In this context, in 2022 Colombia elected its first left-wing president in modern history, Gustavo Petro, a former member of an anti-government guerilla group.