Colombia marks 25 years with public debt above the regional median
In 2025, Colombian central government debt reached 64.4% of GDP compared to a regional median of 49.2%, ranking second among 13 countries reporting ECLAC data. This represents a 3.1 pp increase from the 61.3% recorded in 2024.
Current verified finding
Colombia has spent 25 years (2001–2025) with public debt above the regional median; in 2025, 64.4% against 49.2%.
Evidence
Colombia: public debt 1998–2025
The finding preserves the reviewed data even when the source publishes an update.
Snapshot technical details
Query fingerprint: sigev_f51c41b26f31d · The text, result, and records remain fixed to this review.
How we calculated it
We query series public_debt_pct_gdp of dataset cepal-economia-anual (CEPALSTAT) for the 14 countries between 2000 and 2025 in VerDat's normalised layer; we compute each year's median across the reporting countries (at least 8) and count the consecutive years, through 2025, in which Colombia sits strictly above it. We require at least 5 years. The chart shows the country's series; the values and the streak are re-verified automatically every day.
28 rows match the query; 28 results remain in the summary.
What it means and what it does not
This streak reflects the relative persistence of debt levels compared to the region, without implying merit or causes. The regional median is calculated each year solely from reporting countries (13 in 2025), meaning it shifts with dataset coverage. Furthermore, these figures come from a harmonised ECLAC series for central government as a percentage of GDP, which may differ from national official statistics.
Growth, inflation, debt and tax revenue are percentages; FDI is US dollars — filter to one indicator_key before aggregating.
Verification
Records within the query
Records preserved in the editorial snapshot, using the same filters and partition as the chart.
| Period | Value | Country | Year | Indicator | Indicator group | Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 64.45 | colombia | 2025 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2024 | 61.34 | colombia | 2024 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2023 | 56.19 | colombia | 2023 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2022 | 60.78 | colombia | 2022 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2021 | 62.97 | colombia | 2021 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2020 | 65.03 | colombia | 2020 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2019 | 48.4 | colombia | 2019 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2018 | 48.6 | colombia | 2018 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2017 | 44.9 | colombia | 2017 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2016 | 46 | colombia | 2016 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2015 | 45 | colombia | 2015 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |
| 2014 | 40.2 | colombia | 2014 | Deuda pública del gobierno central, % del PIB | deuda | Not applicable (annual) |