Colombia’s Vehicle Import Numbers Don’t Add Up, and the Currency Only Explains Part of It

Rio Times · Colombia

Colombians are importing vehicles again, and what they are mostly importing is motorcycles. The published growth rate is 68.2%; the published dollar figures give 28.8%.

Both come from the same report, and the gap between them is the first thing a reader deserves to know.

Newly issued Colombian registration plates for Bogotá and Cali. About 100,446 new vehicles were registered nationwide in the first four months of 2026. (Photo internet reproduction)

The three headline numbers do not fit together

Colombia imported US$3,161.2 million worth of private-transport vehicles between January and May 2026, against US$2,454.5 million in the same five months of 2025. Those two figures give an increase of 28.8%.

The trade association that produced the analysis, and the newspaper that reported it, both describe the rise as 68.2%. That figure does not follow from the two dollar values published alongside it.

For 68.2%, the 2025 base would have to be about US$1,879 million, or the 2026 total about US$4,129 million. Neither is what was published.

Until the gap is explained, the safest reading is the one the dollar figures themselves support. We are reporting all three numbers, and the discrepancy between them, rather than picking the flattering one.

Where the figures come from

The analysis is Analdex’s — the Asociación Nacional de Comercio Exterior, Colombia’s foreign-trade association — and was reported by the Cali daily El País, which is unrelated to the Spanish newspaper of the same name.

That provenance matters. This is not a release from DANE, the national statistics office, or from DIAN, the customs authority.

Analdex works from customs import records, but it is a trade body making an argument about the exchange rate, not a neutral statistical publisher. It is also not a sales or registration figure; those run through RUNT, Colombia's national vehicle register.

Motorcycles, not cars, carried the volume

The report does give unit counts, and they are more interesting than the headline. The single largest item by volume was motorcycles under 185cc: 477,439 of them, worth US$479.1 million, or roughly US$1,000 each.

Among cars and pickups, petrol engines between 1,500 and 3,000cc led on volume at 24,211 units for US$394.1 million. Electrified models were close behind and worth more: 19,040 non-plug-in hybrids at US$439.5 million, and 18,886 pure electric vehicles at US$439.9 million.

That last comparison is the quiet finding. By value, electric cars have drawn level with hybrids in Colombia’s import bill.

What the report does not give is a breakdown by brand or country of origin, so nothing here says whether Chinese, Japanese or European makers took the extra share.

The currency helps, but not in the way the framing suggests

El País framed the rise around the falling dollar, and Analdex made the same link. The currency move that matters, though, is the one inside the measured period, not the one since.

Between January and May 2026 the official rate averaged 3,682.94 pesos to the dollar, against roughly 4,211 in the same five months of 2025 — a dollar about 12% cheaper. The much steeper slide, to 3,144 pesos by the start of August, came in June and July, after these imports had already been booked.

A dollar 12% cheaper does make an imported vehicle cheaper in local money. It is a long way from accounting for a rise of this size, and nothing in customs data explains why anyone bought.

Colombia is also climbing off a low base. About 67,300 new vehicles were registered in the first four months of 2025, against 100,446 in the same months of 2026 — a rise of roughly 49%, on industry figures drawn from RUNT.

BBVA Research puts 2024 sales at around 201,000 units, a trough year; 2025 recovered to about 254,000.

What to watch

Analdex’s own reading is that vehicles accounted for much of the growth in Colombia’s total imports over the five months. The gain is concentrated, not broad. Brazil saw its own import surge over the same window, driven by Chinese brands, which The Rio Times reported on 1 August.

Monthly trade data for June and July will show whether this holds, and whether the sharper currency move of those two months pushed the numbers further. It should also, with luck, settle which growth rate is the right one.

Frequently Asked Questions

By how much did Colombia’s vehicle imports rise?

That depends which number you use. Analdex and El País report 68.2%, but the dollar figures they publish – US$3,161.2 million against US$2,454.5 million – give 28.8%.

The two are not consistent and the discrepancy has not been explained.

What did Colombia actually import?

Mostly motorcycles. Machines under 185cc accounted for 477,439 units worth US$479.1 million.

Petrol cars and pickups between 1,500 and 3,000cc came to 24,211 units, hybrids 19,040 and pure electric vehicles 18,886.

Did the strong peso cause it?

It helped, but the timing is looser than the framing suggests. Over January to May the peso averaged 3,682.94 to the dollar against about 4,211 a year earlier, a dollar roughly 12% cheaper.

The sharp rally to 3,144 pesos happened in June and July, after these goods were booked.

Sources: Analdex – Asociación Nacional de Comercio Exterior, El País (Cali), RUNT vehicle registration data, BBVA Research Automotive Outlook

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