In February 2026, Colombia’s unemployment rate stood at 9.2%, a decrease of 1.1 percentage points compared with the same month in 2025 and the lowest figure for a February since 2001, according to the government through the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE).

According to the report, “at the national level, the employed population increased by 624,000 people compared with the previous year.” The sectors that contributed most to job creation were professional, scientific and technical activities, with 250,000 new positions, and the public sector (administration, education and health), with 244,000. In contrast, agriculture lost 363,000 jobs and the transportation sector 86,000 compared with February 2025.

President Gustavo Petro highlighted the result on his X account, stating that “we return to a single-digit unemployment rate, 9.2%, the lowest since 2018. More reasons not to accept the mistake of the right parties in claiming that raising the minimum wage to a living wage would bring an employment catastrophe. That was not true: we have the lowest unemployment of this century for the month of February.” The president also defended the minimum wage increase, which reached 23.7%, the highest recorded in the country.

Volvemos a un dígito de tasa de desocupación, 9,2%, la más baja desde el 2018.

Más razones para no aceptar la equivocación de la derecha al afirmar que el subir el salario mínimo al nivel del salario vital traería una catástrofe del empleo.

No fue cierto, tenemos el menor… https://t.co/vXz7Muv3f0 pic.twitter.com/Jx7RBeIWLb

— Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 30, 2026

Downward trend in unemployment

When analyzing the December–February rolling quarter, the unemployment rate stands at its lowest level in the past ten years, according to DANE reports. The figure rose from an average of 10.7% in 2017–2018 to a peak of 15.7% in 2020–2021, a period marked by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, before declining steadily to 9.2% in February 2026.

For the same period in 2025, the rate stood at 10.4%, representing a reduction of more than one percentage point.

These figures are consistent with estimates by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Colombia, which had projected a gradual decline in unemployment from around 16% in 2020 to an estimated 8.3% for the previous year.

Chart showing unemployment in Colombia from February 2016 to February 2021, including the presidents in office during that period. Image shared by Pacto Histórico Representative David Racero.

Gaps and challenges in the labor market

Despite the overall improvement, the DANE report also highlights challenges in terms of labor inclusion. In February 2026, the unemployment rate for men was 7.4%, while for women it reached 11.7%, representing a gender gap of 4.3 percentage points.

However, the government noted that this gap has been narrowing, as it stood at 5.2 percentage points in the previous month.

The data come from “The Great Integrated Household Survey” (La Gran Ecuesta Integrada de Hogares – GEIH), DANE’s statistical instrument that provides information on the labor market, income, monetary poverty and the sociodemographic characteristics of Colombia’s population.

Highlights of the sector in December 2024

•  The employment rate in the rural sector was 57.7%; which represents an increase of 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous year.
•  The overall participation rate increased by 1.3 percentage points to 62.1%.
•  In the October-December 2024, the employed population in the rural sector increased by 62,172 people (+1.3%).

Similarly, in parallel with the employment growth, the agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry, and fishing sectors registered an increase of 36,645 people employed in December 2024 compared to the same month in 2023; an increase of 1.2%. However, in the October-December quarter, the sector registered a decrease of 99,418 employed people (-3.9%).

Dora Inés Rey Martínez, acting director of the Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA), highlighted the importance of this growth and the commitment to strengthen working conditions in the Colombian countryside: “The rural sector is the essential engine of the country’s development. These results show their resilience and potential; however, the challenge of informality reminds us that we must continue working to guarantee better conditions that allow us to continue working for the food security of Colombians and the sustainable growth of the countryside.”

At the national level, during 2024 the country registered a national unemployment rate of 10.2%, a figure similar to that presented in 2023: 10.2%. At the same time, the country’s employed population was 23 million and increased by 247,649 people (+1.1%) compared to 2023. For its part, the agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry, and fishing sectors employed 3.3 million people in the country; an increase of 3,007 employed people (+0.1%) compared to 2023.

 Photo credit: Rural Agricultural Planning Unit (UPRA) of Colombia.

The number translates to the creation of 513,000 new jobs, according to the government, which offered that formal employment grew at a rate seven times that of the informal sector or self-employed.

“It’s a very positive statistic that fills us with happiness and optimism,” said President Juan Manuel Santos. “This statistic of 7.3% unemployment, we haven’t seen since we began to measure statistics this way,; that is to say in the last 15 years.”

According to DANE, Colombia’s national statistics agency, for the period from September to November of 2015, the unemployment rate was 8.1%, a touch higher than the 8.0% of a year before. For the 13 largest cities, the rolling trimester rate was at 8.9%, the same as in 2014.

“Once again, the unemployment rate has fallen to a historic low, demonstrating the important advances that we have achieved in employment, one of the priorities of the Finance Ministry,” said Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas.

Regarding various sectors, five of the eight measured showed improved employment. The social, personal, and community service sector grew by 4.4% in terms of employment, real estate grew 3.5%, and the consumer sector grew 3.2%. Construction employment fell by 2.4% and the industrial workforce shrank by 3.3%. The agricultural sector also showed growth.

“The reduction in the unemployment rate in November 2015 is explained by the creation of 513,000 jobs relative to the same period a year before. We have seen a higher employment rate, going from 60.3% in November of 2014 to 60.9% in November of 2015. Additionally, a reduction of 74,000 people from the unemployed population was observed. The strength of this country against external shocks and the difficult international situation, along with the policies implemented by the government to stimulate the economy, continue to bear fruit in the Colombian labor market,” said Cardenas.

“Even with the economic difficulties we face, the economic storm, we continue generating employment. That is the priority of this government, since the first day of the administration,” said Santos. “We continue in a positive trajectory, and continue creating jobs.”