Colombia: Inflation rises in April from the prior month
Latest reading: Consumer prices increased 5.7% in annual terms in April, following a 5.6% increase in the prior month. April’s reading was the strongest since September 2024 and came in slightly above market expectations.
Relative to the previous month’s figures, price pressures were higher for food and non-alcoholic beverages in April (+6.7% on a year-on-year basis vs +6.3% in March). In contrast, there were reduced price pressures for housing and utilities (+4.1% vs +4.2% in March) and restaurants and hotels (+9.6% vs +9.9% in March).
Meanwhile, core consumer prices rose 6.3% in annual terms in April, unchanged from the previous month’s reading.
Finally, consumer prices were up 0.78% in April in month-on-month terms, unchanged from the previous month’s reading.
Panelist insight: Commenting on the outlook, Santiago Tellez, analyst at Goldman Sachs, stated:
“We maintain our year-end 2026 headline inflation forecast at 6.5%, with risks skewed to the upside on noncore items but tilted to the downside on services […]. We saw encouraging signs that the inflationary impact of the minimum wage on labor-intensive services is dwindling. This, along with gradually moderating pressures in the high-CPI weight rent component, suggests that the peak of core services may not be as high as anticipated at the start of the year […]. That said, some lingering risks related to the implementation of the labor reform during H2 persist. Conversely, tradable inflation has been somewhat higher than anticipated despite the favorable exchange rate dynamics. […]. In the near-term, the main risks to our forecast stems from food prices.”