In January 2026, Colombia's unemployment rate stood at 10.9%, the lowest for any January since 2001, with 324,000 more workers than in the same month of 2025. The number of unemployed people fell by 186,000 to 2.8 million. This improvement was driven by growth in self-employment and people leaving the labor force.
The National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) reported that in January 2026, Colombia had 23.2 million employed people, an increase of 324,000 from January 2025. The unemployment rate fell 0.7 percentage points, from 11.6% to 10.9%, according to César Mauricio López, director of Methodology and Statistical Production at Dane: "The unemployment rate is the lowest for any January since 2001".
The Global Participation Rate was 63.6%, down from 64.1% in January 2025, while the Occupation Rate remained at 56.7%. This rise in employed included 195,000 new self-employed workers, bringing their total to 9.58 million from 9.39 million. However, the economically active population dropped by 410,000 people, contributing to the decline in the unemployment rate.
By sex, unemployment was 8.7% for men and 13.8% for women, maintaining a significant gap. Among youth, it reached 15.3% in the mobile quarter. In the 13 main cities, the rate was 8.5%, below the previous 9.4%.
Sectors with the most new jobs were public administration and defense (+172,000) and professional and scientific activities (+155,000). In contrast, trade and vehicle repair lost 149,000 positions. Cities with the highest rates included Quibdó (24.6%), Cartagena (14.6%), and Riohacha (13.6%), while Bogotá (7.5%), Villavicencio (7.7%), and Manizales (7.7%) had the lowest.
