Regional Economic Bulletin (BER in Spanish): Southwest, Second Quarter of 2026
The Regional Economic Bulletin is published by the Regional Economies Section of the Technical and Economic Information Department at Banco de la República. The views and potential errors are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not compromise Banco de la República or its Board of Directors.
In the second quarter of 2026, economic activity in the Southwest region is estimated to have recorded year-over-year growth, driven by private consumption.
goods, and increased imports of consumer goods and industrial inputs. Manufacturing production also improved, particularly due to the performance of the motorcycle, chemical, non-metallic mineral, and sugar industries. This result contributed to an increase in freight transportation. In contrast, building construction activity continued to weaken, as reflected in the contraction of the area under construction and the decline in new housing sales. Likewise, agricultural supply decreased compared with the same period a year earlier. On the other hand, inflation maintained its upward trend, and the unemployment rate continued to decline.
Manufacturing growth accelerated, driven by domestic and external demand. In Valle del Cauca, production in the chemical, metallurgical, and food industries increased, while textiles, apparel, and paper declined. In Cauca, the dynamism of motorcycle manufacturing and the coffee and sugarcane agro-industries was supported by stronger demand and improved financing conditions.
Retail sales continued to grow, driven by greater household confidence, which supported purchases of durable and basic goods, particularly vehicles, technology equipment, and food. The performance was also supported by inventory availability and a broader supply. However, inflation moderated spending on semi-durable goods and tourism activities.
Agricultural and livestock activities showed mixed results. On the one hand, agricultural production increased due to greater supply of sugarcane, coffee, and fruit, supported by more favorable weather conditions and increased productive lending in previous periods. However, potato production declined due to lower planting incentives. Meanwhile, livestock activity benefited from the dynamism of the pig and dairy sectors.
Regional Economic Bulletin published to date (since 2025)
In order to present this content to the English-speaking public, since 2025 Banrep has been providing translations of the summaries. The full document, as well as the interactive bulletin, are published only in Spanish.
