Unemployment in Colombia stood at 8.1 percent in July 2026, a reduction of 0.7 percentage points compared to 8.8 percent recorded in the same month of 2025.
The result, presented by Ricardo Valencia Ramírez, director of the entity, was accompanied by an increase of 578,000 employed people, bringing the number of workers to 24.547 million nationwide.
The labor market snapshot also shows an increase in the participation of the working-age population. The overall participation rate rose from 64.6 percent in July last year to 64.8 percent in July this year. At the same time, the employment rate increased from 58.9 to 59.5 percent.
In terms of people, the unemployed population decreased by 160,000 compared to July 2025, equivalent to a variation of -6.9 percent.
The behavior was mainly explained by reductions recorded in other urban centers and in populated centers and dispersed rural areas.
More employed people, but with changes between sectors
The increase in employment was not distributed equally among the economic activity sectors.
The largest contribution came from public administration and defense, education, and human health care, where the number of employed rose from 2.824 million in July 2025 to 3.229 million in July 2026. That is 404,000 additional people.
Trade and vehicle repair also saw an increase. The employed population in this sector rose from 4.062 million to 4.219 million, that is, 158,000 more people.
Construction, meanwhile, increased from 1.667 million to 1.823 million, with an increase of 156,000 employed.
Other sectors also expanded their number of workers. Information and communications added 92,000 employed; manufacturing industries, 82,000; and artistic activities, entertainment, recreation, and other services, 79,000.
On the other side of the table is agriculture, livestock, hunting, forestry, and fishing. This sector decreased from 3.442 million employed in July 2025 to 3.238 million a year later, a reduction of 204,000 people. Employment also decreased in transport and storage, accommodation and food services, financial and insurance activities, and electricity, gas, water supply, and waste management.
Self-employment accounts for a large part of the increase
Reviewing occupational status, the largest increase was among self-employed workers. This group rose from 9.774 million people in July 2025 to 10.187 million in July 2026, an increase of 413,000 workers and a contribution of 1.7 percentage points to the variation in the employed population.
The number of employers or bosses also increased, from 517,000 to 667,000 people. The group of government employees reached 939,000, compared to 809,000 a year earlier. Among private employees, the change was from 10.885 million to 10.924 million.
In contrast, day laborers or farmhands registered a decrease of 185,000 people, dropping from 805,000 to 619,000. Unpaid family workers increased by 32,000, while the number of domestic employees remained practically stable, with 733,000 people in both periods.
The result also shows a difference between men and women. In July, female unemployment was 10.1 percent, compared to 6.7 percent for men. The gap was 3.4 percentage points, smaller than the 4-point gap recorded a year earlier.
This is how employment in cities moved
In the 13 main cities and metropolitan areas, the behavior was different from the national total. There, the unemployment rate rose from 8.4 percent in July 2025 to 8.5 percent in July 2026. The overall participation rate fell from 67 to 66.7 percent, and the employment rate went from 61.3 to 61 percent.
The preliminary seasonally adjusted figure for July was 8.3 percent nationwide and 8.4 percent in the 13 cities and metropolitan areas. In June, both figures had been 8.2 percent.
In the moving quarter May-July, the national unemployment rate was 8.1 percent, while that of the 13 cities and metropolitan areas reached 8.4 percent. For that period, the national employment rate was 59.5 percent and labor participation was 64.8 percent.
By cities, among the 23 main ones, Quibdó recorded the highest unemployment rate, at 23 percent, followed by Cartagena, with 13.6 percent, and Sincelejo, with 13 percent. At the opposite end were Medellín, with 7 percent; Bucaramanga, with 7.2 percent; and Pereira, with 7.5 percent.
For youth aged 15 to 28, the unemployment rate was 14.1 percent during May-July. Quibdó recorded 33.6 percent; Sincelejo, 25.8 percent; and Cartagena, 25.4 percent. The lowest rates corresponded to Pereira, with 12.1 percent, and Medellín and Florencia, both with 12.5 percent.
Dane also reported a reduction in informality in all geographic domains. Nationwide, the proportion of informal employed was 54.5 percent; in the 13 cities and metropolitan areas, 40.5 percent; in the 23 cities and metropolitan areas, 41.8 percent; and in populated centers and dispersed rural areas, 82.5 percent.
