The infrastructure sector has played a key part in the prosperity of Colombia’s construction and cement industries. Going forward, analysts forecast a modest market expansion. By Bancolombia, Colombia, and ICR Research, UK.

Over the last decade, Colombia’s infrastructure sector has been fundamental to the performance of the country’s construction market and, in turn, its domestic cement industry. In the coming years, infrastructure is forecast to remain the key driver of growth as Colombia’s housing construction market shows increasing signs of slowing.

Construction projects under Colombia’s Fourth Generation (4G) infrastructure initiative, which to date is 66 per cent complete, along with the implementation of public works contracts by the country’s National Road Institute (Invías), has led to more than a four-fold increase in construction GDP from 2005-2Q22, with remarkable expansion in the 2010-14 period. This period of rapid growth also extended to 2018 and helped avoid a decline in market activity during 2018-22 despite the strong impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.