Illicit cocaine exports generated more revenue for Colombia than crude oil for the first time in 2024, according to a study by Medellín-based EAFIT University, highlighting the extraordinary expansion of the country’s illegal drug economy over the past decade.
Researchers estimated the value of cocaine exports at $16.5 billion in 2024, surpassing the roughly $15 billion generated by petroleum exports. Colombia is estimated to produce about 70% of the world’s cocaine supply.
The figures place the illicit cocaine trade ahead of Colombia’s other major export industries. Coal exports were valued at approximately $7.1 billion, while legal gold exports generated $4.1 billion. Illegal gold production was estimated to be worth another $3.6 billion.
EAFIT researchers calculated that the cocaine economy now represents approximately 4.4% of Colombia’s GDP, compared with just 0.8% in 2013.
The increase has been driven by a dramatic expansion in production. Colombia’s annual cocaine output rose from less than 300 metric tons in 2013 to nearly 3,000 metric tons in 2024, representing an approximately tenfold increase.
The study also examined how the value of cocaine rises as it moves through production and international trafficking networks.
In Colombia’s coca-growing regions, the raw material required for a kilogram was valued at around $468. After processing in clandestine laboratories, a kilogram of cocaine hydrochloride was worth approximately $1,400 domestically.
The estimated volume-weighted price obtained by Colombian trafficking organisations rises to about $5,920 per kilogram at the export stage. Once cocaine reaches wholesale markets overseas, however, its value increases dramatically, exceeding $78,000 per kilogram in some European markets.
Researchers said Colombian criminal organisations have increasingly expanded beyond domestic production and transportation into international distribution, allowing them to capture a greater share of the profits generated further along the trafficking chain.
The findings illustrate the growing economic weight of the illicit drug industry in Colombia, with cocaine revenues now estimated to exceed those of any individual legal export sector.