Preliminary results from the Dane's National Urban Economic Census show Colombia has 219,042 street vending units, mostly in large cities like Bogotá. This activity includes stationary, semi-stationary, or mobile forms in public spaces. Dane director Piedad Urdinola clarifies that not all are itinerant, but street vendors with fixed stalls.
Colombia records over 219,000 street vending units
The National Administrative Department of Statistics (Dane) has released preliminary results from its National Urban Economic Census, which will identify urban productive units, their size, economic activity, formality level, and employment generation. Initial data indicate Colombia has 219,042 street vending units, defined as stationary, semi-stationary, or mobile activities in public spaces, involving individual, shared, or associated work forms.
Bogotá tops the list with 42,097 units, followed by Medellín (13,692) and Cali (12,213). The top five includes Barranquilla (9,684) and Cartagena (6,558). Other cities such as Bucaramanga (6,444), Cúcuta (6,016), Montería (5,446), Soledad in Atlántico (3,602), and Ibagué (3,364) round out the top 10. Among the 30 municipalities with the highest concentration, nine are non-capitals, like Soacha (2,983) and Piedecuesta (1,517).
Dane director Piedad Urdinola explained: “There is always a little stall that is in the corner every day. The same happens in other cases. Not all are itinerant anymore, that's why we call them street vendors”.
David Cubides, chief economist at Banco de Occidente, links this figure to labor informality in Colombia, which features a high structural unemployment rate and elevated informality levels in the region. “Informality is reflected in indicators like informal and street vendors, who end up moving and settling in major cities,” he noted.
Final census results are expected by the end of the first semester of 2026, providing a more detailed overview of these units.
