Cocaine set to become Colombia's top export after surpassing oil: Report

Cocaine is set to become Colombia's main export and overtake oil, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics. The production of the narcotic continues to expand as the government takes a more lenient policy regarding drugs. 

Felipe Henandez, a Bloomberg economist said that oil exports posted a drop of 30% in the first half and the trend of cocaine trade has consistently risen which means it could be Colombia's number one export as soon as this year. 

In an official statement, Hernandez said, "We estimate cocaine export revenues jumped to $18.2 billion in 2022 — not far behind oil exports of $19.1 billion last year. The government is destroying laboratories where coca leaves are manufactured into cocaine, but that hasn’t prevented production from expanding.”

As per the UN Office on Drugs and Crime report, Colombia's cocaine output surged to a record 1,738 tons last year, while the amount of land planted with coca, the raw material for making the drug, rose 13% to a record 230,000 hectares (570,000 acres) in 2022 from the previous year. 

The Bloomberg economist said that the increase in cocaine production has had a short-term effect on activity, domestic demand, and external accounts while not seeming to correlate with the performance of the Colombia peso. 

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro said cocaine has always been a top export for his country after a report estimated the narcotic would overtake oil to become the nation’s top exporting product.

“Cocaine has been Colombia’s first export product several times, and if not, the second. The sad reality of oil economies that neglect that production, and not extraction, is the source of wealth. We want a productive Colombia," Petro said Friday evening in a message on X. 

The economist said that the new policy approach toward drugs is facilitating illegal groups to increase cocaine production. 

(With Bloomberg inputs)