As of 2024, an estimate of 7.93 million people lived in Bogotá — the capital of Colombia and most populated city in the country. With 2.62 million, Medellín ranked second that year in the list of largest Colombian cities. Cali, located at the southwest of the country, followed closely behind with nearly 2.3 million inhabitants.

Population in largest city in Colombia was reported at 11658211 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Colombia - Population in largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on April of 2025.

Population in the largest city (% of urban population) in Colombia was reported at 26.67 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Colombia - Population in the largest city - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

As of March 2024, the cost of living in Bogota was the highest among major Colombian cities. In total, the average cost per month amounted to 883 U.S. dollars. Cartagena followed in the ranking, with a monthly cost of living of 877 U.S. dollars at that time.

The city of Bogotá, Colombia, ranked second as the Latin American metropolis most prone to traffic jams in 2024. According to the index, the Colombian capital experienced an average traffic increase of 44 percent during rush hours. Peru's capital, Lima, recorded the fifth-worst congestion level that year, meaning that driving in the city took around 39 percent longer at peak time than under low traffic conditions. Out of the top 10 Latin American cities evaluated in 2024, five are located in Colombia.

Bogota, Medellin, and Cartagena were the most visited Colombian cities by international tourists between 2020 and 2022. In that latter year, the Colombian capital welcomed more 1.4 million foreigners.

The statistic shows the number of free public Wi-Fi hotspots in Colombia's largest cities as of May 2018. As of the this date, the capital and largest city in Colombia, Bogota, presented 250 free public Wi-Fi locations across the city. Medellin was ranked second with a total of 237 hotspots to date.

Graph and download economic data for Geographical Outreach: Number of Branches in 3 Largest Cities, Excluding Headquarters, for Credit Unions and Financial Cooperatives for Colombia (COLFCBODULNUM) from 2008 to 2015 about branches, credit unions, Colombia, financial, and depository institutions.

This horizontal bar chart displays rural population (people) by capital city using the aggregation sum and is filtered where the country is Colombia. The data is about countries per year.

In March 2024, Colombian households spent around 2.5 trillion Colombian pesos on fashion. By cities, it was Bogotá, the capital, that generated the highest fashion expenditure, at over 800 billion Colombian pesos. Medellín, the second-biggest city in Colombia, followed with 255 billion pesos. Meanwhile, the household spending on fashion in Neiva, capital of the Department of Huila, accounted only for approximately 18 billion Colombian pesos that month.

Bogotá topped the list of best cities for startups in Colombia in 2024, registering a total score of 1.55 That year, this city also ranked third in the list of leading cities for startups in Latin America and the Caribbean. Medellín, the second-largest city in the country, followed second in the Colombian ranking with a score of 3.89 points.

Colombia Diesel Price: 13 Main Cities data was reported at 10,536.308 COP/gal in 11 Apr 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 10,536.308 COP/gal for 10 Apr 2025. Colombia Diesel Price: 13 Main Cities data is updated daily, averaging 8,585.077 COP/gal from May 2016 (Median) to 11 Apr 2025, with 3268 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11,363.692 COP/gal in 06 Sep 2024 and a record low of 7,007.462 COP/gal in 27 Aug 2016. Colombia Diesel Price: 13 Main Cities data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Energy and Gas Regulation Commission. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Colombia – Table CO.P003: Diesel Price: by City. [COVID-19-IMPACT]

This horizontal bar chart displays urban population living in areas where elevation is below 5 meters (% of total population) by capital city using the aggregation average, weighted by population in Colombia. The data is about countries per year.

As of June 2021, Bogotá D.C. was the city in Colombia with most motorcycle registrations, counting a total of over 514,300 motorcycle units. In 2020, the total motorcycle fleet size in Colombia amounted than 9.4 million units.

Abstract

The STEP (Skills Toward Employment and Productivity) Measurement program is the first ever initiative to generate internationally comparable data on skills available in developing countries. The program implements standardized surveys to gather information on the supply and distribution of skills and the demand for skills in labor market of low-income countries.

The uniquely-designed Household Survey includes modules that measure the cognitive skills (reading, writing and numeracy), socio-emotional skills (personality, behavior and preferences) and job-specific skills (subset of transversal skills with direct job relevance) of a representative sample of adults aged 15 to 64 living in urban areas, whether they work or not. The cognitive skills module also incorporates a direct assessment of reading literacy based on the Survey of Adults Skills instruments. Modules also gather information about family, health and language.

Geographic coverage

13 major metropolitan areas: Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Baranquilla, Bucaramanga, Cucuta, Cartagena, Pasto, Ibague, Pereira, Manizales, Monteira, and Villavicencio.

Analysis unit

The units of analysis are the individual respondents and households. A household roster is undertaken at the start of the survey and the individual respondent is randomly selected among all household members aged 15 to 64 included. The random selection process was designed by the STEP team and compliance with the procedure is carefully monitored during fieldwork.

Universe

The target population for the Colombia STEP survey is all non-institutionalized persons 15 to 64 years old (inclusive) living in private dwellings in urban areas of the country at the time of data collection. This includes all residents except foreign diplomats and non-nationals working for international organizations.

The following groups are excluded from the sample: - residents of institutions (prisons, hospitals, etc.) - residents of senior homes and hospices - residents of other group dwellings such as college dormitories, halfway homes, workers' quarters, etc. - persons living outside the country at the time of data collection.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Stratified 7-stage sample design was used in Colombia. The stratification variable is city-size category.

First Stage Sample The primary sample unit (PSU) is a metropolitan area. A sample of 9 metropolitan areas was selected from the 13 metropolitan areas on the sample frame. The metropolitan areas were grouped according to city-size; the five largest metropolitan areas are included in Stratum 1 and the remaining 8 metropolitan areas are included in Stratum 2. The five metropolitan areas in Stratum 1 were selected with certainty; in Stratum 2, four metropolitan areas were selected with probability proportional to size (PPS), where the measure of size was the number of persons aged 15 to 64 in a metropolitan area.

Second Stage Sample The second stage sample unit is a Section. At the second stage of sample selection, a PPS sample of 267 Sections was selected from the sampled metropolitan areas; the measure of size was the number of persons aged 15 to 64 in a Section. The sample of 267 Sections consisted of 243 initial Sections and 24 reserve Sections to be used in the event of complete non-response at the Section level.

Third Stage Sample The third stage sample unit is a Block. Within each selected Section, a PPS sample of 4 blocks was selected; the measure of size was the number of persons aged 15 to 64 in a Block. Two sample Blocks were initially activated while the remaining two sample Blocks were reserved for use in cases where there was a refusal to cooperate at the Block level or cases where the block did not belong to the target population (e.g., parks, and commercial and industrial areas).

Fourth Stage Sample The fourth stage sample unit is a Block Segment. Regarding the Block segmentation strategy, the Colombia document 'FINAL SAMPLING PLAN (ARD-397)' states "According to the 2005 population and housing census conducted by DANE, the average number of dwellings per block in the 13 large cities or metropolitan areas was approximately 42 dwellings. Based on this finding, the defined protocol was to report those cases in which 80 or more dwellings were present in a given block in order to partition block using a random selection algorithm." At the fourth stage of sample selection, 1 Block Segment was selected in each selected Block using a simple random sample (SRS) method.

Fifth Stage Sample The fifth stage sample unit is a dwelling. At the fifth stage of sample selection, 5582 dwellings were selected from the sampled Blocks/Block Segments using a simple random sample (SRS) method. According to the Colombia document 'FINAL SAMPLING PLAN (ARD-397)', the selection of dwellings within a participant Block "was performed differentially amongst the different socioeconomic strata that the Colombian government uses for the generation of cross-subsidies for public utilities (in this case, the socioeconomic stratum used for the electricity bill was used). Given that it is known from previous survey implementations that refusal rates are highest amongst households of higher socioeconomic status, the number of dwellings to be selected increased with the socioeconomic stratum (1 being the poorest and 6 being the richest) that was most prevalent in a given block".

Sixth Stage Sample The sixth stage sample unit is a household. At the sixth stage of sample selection, one household was selected in each selected dwelling using an SRS method.

Seventh Stage Sample The seventh stage sample unit was an individual aged 15-64 (inclusive). The sampling objective was to select one individual with equal probability from each selected household.

Sampling methodologies are described for each country in two documents and are provided as external resources: (i) the National Survey Design Planning Report (NSDPR) (ii) the weighting documentation (available for all countries)

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The STEP survey instruments include:

• The background questionnaire developed by the World Bank (WB) STEP team
• Reading Literacy Assessment developed by Educational Testing Services (ETS).

All countries adapted and translated both instruments following the STEP technical standards: two independent translators adapted and translated the STEP background questionnaire and Reading Literacy Assessment, while reconciliation was carried out by a third translator.

The survey instruments were piloted as part of the survey pre-test.

The background questionnaire covers such topics as respondents' demographic characteristics, dwelling characteristics, education and training, health, employment, job skill requirements, personality, behavior and preferences, language and family background.

The background questionnaire, the structure of the Reading Literacy Assessment and Reading Literacy Data Codebook are provided in the document "Colombia STEP Skills Measurement Survey Instruments", available in external resources.

Cleaning operations

STEP data management process:

1) Raw data is sent by the survey firm 2) The World Bank (WB) STEP team runs data checks on the background questionnaire data. Educational Testing Services (ETS) runs data checks on the Reading Literacy Assessment data. Comments and questions are sent back to the survey firm. 3) The survey firm reviews comments and questions. When a data entry error is identified, the survey firm corrects the data. 4) The WB STEP team and ETS check if the data files are clean. This might require additional iterations with the survey firm. 5) Once the data has been checked and cleaned, the WB STEP team computes the weights. Weights are computed by the STEP team to ensure consistency across sampling methodologies. 6) ETS scales the Reading Literacy Assessment data. 7) The WB STEP team merges the background questionnaire data with the Reading Literacy Assessment data and computes derived variables.

Detailed information on data processing in STEP surveys is provided in "STEP Guidelines for Data Processing", available in external resources. The template do-file used by the STEP team to check raw background questionnaire data is provided as an external resource, too.`

Response rate

An overall response rate of 48% was achieved in the Colombia STEP Survey.

Big Cities Colombia

Between December 2023 and February 2024, Quibdó registered the highest unemployment rate among main cities in Colombia at more than 28 percent. The average of the 23 listed cities was 11.7 percent. Meanwhile, Medellín registered the lowest unemployment rate in that period.

Bogotá harbors the largest number of startups than any other Colombian city. Nearly *** startup companies were located in the Colombian capital and its larger metropolitan area. Medellín came in second, with *** startups headquartered there. Most startups in Chile are located in Santiago.

This statistic depicts the largest Colombian-American population groups living in different counties across the United States as of 2010. At this time there were 114,701 people of Colombian origin living in Miami-Dade County in Florida.

Cali reported the highest change in the vacancy rate for industrial and logistics real estate among the major cities in Colombia. It increased from 1.8 percent in the second quarter of 2023 to six percent in the second quarter of 2024, making Cali the city with the highest vacancy rate that year. Meanwhile, Medellín had the lowest vacancy rate for industrial and logistics real estate in the second quarter of 2024.