World Factbook
Colombia
República de Colombia
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
95% (2024 est.)
female
95.7% (2024 est.)
total population
95.3% (2024 est.)
Languages
Languages
Spanish (official) 98.9%, indigenous 1%, Portuguese 0.1%; 65 indigenous languages exist (2023 est.)
major-language sample(s)
La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Roman Catholic 63.6%, Protestant 17.2% (Evangelical 16.7%, Adventist 0.3%, other Protestant 0.2%), Jehovah's Witness 0.6%, Church of Jesus Christ 0.1%, other 0.3%, believer, 0.2%. agnostic 1%, atheist 1%, none 14.2%, unspecified 1.8% (2023 est.)
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years
0.96 male(s)/female
total population
0.95 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.78 male(s)/female
Birth rate
14.73 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
6.96 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
31.5 years
total
33.1 years (2025 est.)
female
34 years
Population
male
24,320,959
total
49,842,298 (2025 est.)
female
25,521,339
Nationality
noun
Colombian(s)
adjective
Colombian
Tobacco use
male
11.2% (2025 est.)
total
7.6% (2025 est.)
female
4.1% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
82.4% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
1.01% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
22.3% (male 5,643,995/female 5,394,147)
15-64 years
66.5% (male 16,127,377/female 16,859,161)
65 years and over
11.2% (2024 est.) (male 2,434,999/female 3,128,678)
Ethnic groups
Mestizo and White 87.6%, Afro-Colombian (includes Mulatto, Raizal, and Palenquero) 6.8%, Indigenous 4.3%, unspecified 1.4% (2018 est.)
Child marriage
men married by age 18
6.7% (2015)
women married by age 15
4.9% (2015)
women married by age 18
23.4% (2015)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
50.7 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
33.2 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
5.7 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
17.5 (2025 est.)
Physician density
2.54 physicians/1,000 population (2023)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
9% of GDP (2021)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
15.7% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
-2.38 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
1.7 beds/1,000 population (2020 est.)
Total fertility rate
1.94 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: rural
rural: 86.7% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 97.5% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 99.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 13.3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 2.5% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 0.1% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
5.3% of GDP (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
13.1 deaths/1,000 live births
total
11.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
10.2 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
0.54% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.94 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
the majority of people live in the north and west, where agricultural opportunities and natural resources are found; the vast grasslands of the llanos to the south and east, which make up approximately 60% of the country, are sparsely populated
Life expectancy at birth
male
71.3 years
female
78.7 years
total population
74.9 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
59 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: rural
rural: 88.2% of population (2022 est.)
improved: total
total: 97% of population (2022 est.)
improved: urban
urban: 98.9% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: rural
rural: 11.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 3% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: urban
urban: 1.1% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
3.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.06 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
4.09 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.92 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
11.508 million BOGOTA (capital), 4.102 million Medellin, 2.864 million Cali, 2.349 million Barranquilla, 1.381 million Bucaramanga, 1.088 million Cartagena (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
22.3% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
21.7 years (2015 est.)
note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
50.9% (2018 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
3.7% (2016 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
14 years (2022 est.)
total
14 years (2022 est.)
female
15 years (2022 est.)