By the third quarter of 2025, non-mining and energy sectors accounted for almost 73% of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Colombia, with the agricultural sector taking a growing share.
Colombia’s agricultural sector has experienced a growth dynamic over the last decade, stimulated by part of the foreign capital that has entered production and export-oriented fruit chains. In crops such as avocado and blueberry, foreign capital has been attracted to productive efficiency projects, infrastructure, technology, and alignment with international standards, in a global fresh fruit market that registered an average annual growth rate of 3.4% in value between 2018 and 2023.
In an international context, with lower growth prospects and tighter financial conditions, FDI has tended to concentrate in destinations that provide more stability, market size, and future potential. In this context, Colombia has managed to maintain the interest of international capital, with an increasingly relevant trend: the growing share of non-mining and energy sectors such as agriculture and agribusiness.
Statistics from the Banco de la República show that, by the third quarter of 2025, these sectors accounted for nearly 73% of foreign direct investment in the country. This trend is based not only on macroeconomic conditions but also on structural changes in the conception of productive projects, in which sustainability, value generation, and integration into global supply chains play a central role.
Exports within the agricultural sector as an axis for investment
In this scenario, the agricultural and agribusiness sector has maintained steady growth over the last decade, in part, thanks to the arrival of foreign capital into production and export-oriented fruit chains. Avocado and blueberry, among others, have been attracting investments that seek to improve productivity, infrastructure, technological practices, and inputs, and alignment with international quality and commercial standards in a scenario in which the international fresh fruit market grew at an average annual rate of 3.4% in value between 2018 and 2023. This has established the sector as an increasingly relevant component of the foreign investment that enters the country.
The agricultural sector, however, has also had to face, in recent years, a series of challenges. Reports on the performance of different branches of the sector agree that 2024 was a growth year for Colombian agriculture. The sector was supported by a relatively stable situation in the international prices of inputs and favorable weather conditions for the crops. At the same time, agriculture has been facing major tests related to the security situation in rural areas, extreme climate events, logistical difficulties, and crop losses. Elements that point to the need to continue strengthening the frameworks of public policies and foreign investment to make the sector more resilient.
Access to Capital has Helped Colombia Agriculture
In this regard, factors such as access to capital have played an increasingly relevant role. As reported by specialized platforms such as ProducePay, external financing allows producers to invest in technology, post-harvest practices, cold storage, and logistics. These elements are essential for continuity, quality, and alignment with the standards required by international buyers, reducing risks and strengthening the stability of the agricultural supply chain.
In this way, the sectoral composition of foreign investment in 2025 reflects the same logic of transformation. Renewable energy led the list of projects that entered the country, followed by software and technology services. While agribusiness took one of the main positions in the investment portfolio of the year, in a scenario in which investors seek projects with productive impact, sustainability, and a long-term horizon.
In the territorial distribution, this trend has translated into an investment spread over more regions. Bogotá added the largest share of projects during the year. But almost twenty departments in the country were able to register foreign investment initiatives, reaffirming the role of regional areas as spaces for productive development, local value chains, and formal job creation, especially in activities linked to agriculture.
In this context, the figures announced by ProColombia for 2025 (178 foreign investment projects projecting the creation of more than 48,800 jobs) serve as an indicator of the type of projects that are coming into the country. For Colombian agriculture, this scenario means important opportunities but also challenges to translate interest from international capital into sustainable, competitive investments capable of strengthening rural development in the medium and long term.
Conclusion
In conclusion, foreign investment in Colombia consolidates an increasingly solid and strategic interest in Colombian agriculture, in such a way that the agricultural and agribusiness sector has established itself as a pillar of economic growth and job generation. Macroeconomic stability, access to financing, the use of modern technologies, and export orientation have made agriculture an attractive destination for foreign capital. However, sustaining this trend will require public policies, infrastructure, and sustainability strategies that allow translating investments into rural development, strengthened value chains, and long-term competitiveness. In this way, Colombian agriculture is building itself as one of the main components of the economic future of the country, with the capacity for attracting capital, generating value, and consolidating its presence in international markets.