Cocaine surpasses oil as Colombia’s top export sector: Study

Illicit cocaine exports surpassed crude oil sales for the first time to become Colombia's single largest export, according to a report by Medellin-based EAFIT University.

The study values Colombia's illegal cocaine exports at $16.5 billion in 2024, eclipsing the $15 billion generated by the petroleum industry. The surge underscores Colombia's position as the world's primary cocaine producer, responsible for roughly 70% of global supply.

The explosion of the illicit drug trade stands out sharply against Colombia's major legal export sectors. According to EAFIT researchers, coal ranked as the third-largest export pillar at $7.1 billion, followed by legal gold exports at $4.1 billion and illegal gold mining at $3.6 billion.

The cocaine trade has grown to represent approximately 4.4% of Colombia's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Specialists warned that over the past decade, the illegal cocaine economy expanded from 0.8% of GDP in 2013 to over 4% in 2024.

Colombia's annual cocaine output surged tenfold from under 300 metric tons in 2013 to nearly 3,000 metric tons in 2024.

The report details how profit margins multiply exponentially along the trafficking supply chain.

In Colombia's rural growing regions, a kilogram of raw coca leaf costs approximately $468. Once processed in clandestine domestic laboratories, the value of a kilo of cocaine hydrochloride rises to $1,400.

As Colombian criminal groups increasingly extend their reach into international distribution networks outside the country, their returns multiply. The volume-weighted average price for Colombian cartels reaches nearly $5,920 per kilo upon export, while wholesale prices in destination markets like Europe can exceed $78,000 per kilo.

This deep integration into global supply chains allows domestic criminal syndicates to capture high profit margins generated abroad, cementing drug trafficking's dominant role in Colombia's economy.