Tourism was consolidated as the second largest generator of foreign exchange in Colombia in 2025, surpassing coffee and coal

In 2025, foreign exchange earnings from tourism-related exports reached USD 11.166 billion, representing a 9.3% increase compared to 2024. Of that total, USD 9.42697 billion corresponded to the travel sector, with an 8.4% growth, while USD 1.73915 billion came from air passenger transport, which registered a remarkable 14.3% increase.

“With this result, the sector once again demonstrated its significant weight in the Colombian economy and is in line with the strong performance observed in 2024, when tourism-related foreign exchange earnings reached USD 10.220 billion, growing 14% compared to 2023. Between 2024 and 2025, a sustained and structural trend was confirmed, strengthening tourism's contribution to the country's external income generation,” explained Paula Cortés Calle, Executive President of ANATO.

Once again, tourism far surpassed traditional export sectors. In 2025, tourism revenues more than doubled coal exports, which reached USD 4.901 billion, and coffee exports, which totaled USD 5.7882 billion. These figures reaffirm that the travel industry is no longer a complementary activity, but rather has consolidated its position as the second-largest generator of foreign exchange for the Colombian economy.

Tourism also accounted for 89% of the value of oil and petroleum product exports, increasing its share by 5 percentage points compared to 2024. It is worth noting that oil exports totaled USD 12.482 billion in 2025, a 17% decrease compared to the previous year. 

Source: BanRep and DANE.