JAVIER FORERO
COLOMBIA · DANE · 23 CITIES

The cost of living in Colombia 🇨🇴

Compare basic living costs across cities, explore their history, and track local inflation.

Understanding the data ↗
This proxy uses monetary poverty thresholds, not an average household budget. Each department takes the value of its measured city; it is not a department-wide estimate.
Highest basic basket121.69

Bucaramanga metro · $670,169

Lowest basic basket75.07

Riohacha · $413,433

Index 100 · unweighted mean$550,714

COP per person / month · 2025

Population-weighted index · 23 cities ⓘ106.42

25.27 M · urban residents covered

Basic living costs across Colombia

2025 · 100 = mean of the 23 cities

Urban proxy
<9090–<9898–102>102–110>110No data
CAQUETÁ · Florencia: 98.13 — proxy, not a department averageCAUCA · Popayán: 112.09 — proxy, not a department averagePUTUMAYO · No measured cityVALLE DEL CAUCA · Cali metro: 92.90 — proxy, not a department averageGUAINÍA · No measured cityVICHADA · No measured cityCASANARE · No measured cityAMAZONAS · No measured cityVAUPÉS · No measured cityGUAVIARE · No measured cityCALDAS · Manizales metro: 99.53 — proxy, not a department averageQUINDIO · Armenia: 106.85 — proxy, not a department averageRISARALDA · Pereira metro: 107.26 — proxy, not a department averageANTIOQUIA · Medellín metro: 109.13 — proxy, not a department averageCHOCÓ · Quibdó: 106.26 — proxy, not a department averageNARIÑO · Pasto: 104.52 — proxy, not a department averageCÓRDOBA · Montería: 89.05 — proxy, not a department averageBOLÍVAR · Cartagena: 95.30 — proxy, not a department averageCESAR · Valledupar: 88.68 — proxy, not a department averageLA GUAJIRA · Riohacha: 75.07 — proxy, not a department averageMAGDALENA · Santa Marta: 89.01 — proxy, not a department averageSUCRE · Sincelejo: 86.42 — proxy, not a department averageARAUCA · No measured cityBOYACÁ · Tunja: 112.58 — proxy, not a department averageCUNDINAMARCA · No measured cityNORTE DE SANTANDER · Cúcuta metro: 90.46 — proxy, not a department averageBOGOTÁ, D.C. · Bogotá: 119.94 — proxy, not a department averageMETA · Villavicencio: 96.52 — proxy, not a department averageHUILA · Neiva: 107.14 — proxy, not a department averageSANTANDER · Bucaramanga metro: 121.69 — proxy, not a department averageTOLIMA · Ibagué: 100.89 — proxy, not a department averageATLÁNTICO · Barranquilla metro: 90.56 — proxy, not a department averageMedellín: 109.13Barranquilla: 90.56Bogotá: 119.94Cartagena: 95.30Tunja: 112.58Manizales: 99.53Florencia: 98.13Popayán: 112.09Valledupar: 88.68Montería: 89.05Quibdó: 106.26Neiva: 107.14Riohacha: 75.07Santa Marta: 89.01Villavicencio: 96.52Pasto: 104.52Cúcuta: 90.46Armenia: 106.85Pereira: 107.26Bucaramanga: 121.69Sincelejo: 86.42Ibagué: 100.89Cali: 92.90San Andrés,Providencia y S. CatalinaNo dataDots: measured cities
BOGOTÁ, D.C.Bogotá · 119.94 · $660,533

Bogotá D.C. is a separate district. Cundinamarca has no observation. Areas without measurements are shown in grey.

Compare cities

Higher index → higher basic basket cost

2025 · SELECTED CITY

Bogotá

Bogotá, D.C. · rank 2 / 23

$660,533COP per person / month

Compared with Bucaramanga metro: -1.44% in the poverty threshold. This gap does not represent a household’s total budget.

How the comparison changes

The base of 100 is recalculated each year. This shows relative costs, not inflation.

96.7110.8124.9Bogotá · 2021: 118.6Bogotá · 2022: 117.6Bogotá · 2023: 118.3Bogotá · 2024: 119.0Bogotá · 2025: 119.9Bucaramanga metro · 2021: 119.8Bucaramanga metro · 2022: 120.0Bucaramanga metro · 2023: 119.8Bucaramanga metro · 2024: 121.0Bucaramanga metro · 2025: 121.7202120232025
BogotáBucaramanga metro

Bogotá: rank 2 (2021) → 2 (2025).

Inflation · a different question

Period is independent of the map. 2023: Sep–Dec; 2026: Jan–Aug. Reconstructed index, Dec 2018 = 100 in each city. It does not compare price levels across cities.

2026-08 · Bogotá0.34% month-on-month6.08% year-on-year · derived
149.6158.2166.8Bogotá · 2026-01: 151.6Bogotá · 2026-02: 153.2Bogotá · 2026-03: 154.5Bogotá · 2026-04: 155.6Bogotá · 2026-05: 156.3Bogotá · 2026-06: 156.9Bogotá · 2026-07: 157.1Bogotá · 2026-08: 157.7Bucaramanga metro · 2026-01: 158.4Bucaramanga metro · 2026-02: 159.9Bucaramanga metro · 2026-03: 161.0Bucaramanga metro · 2026-04: 162.7Bucaramanga metro · 2026-05: 162.8Bucaramanga metro · 2026-06: 163.4Bucaramanga metro · 2026-07: 163.7Bucaramanga metro · 2026-08: 164.82026-012026-052026-08
BogotáBucaramanga metro

The data behind the map

City / domainProxy departmentIndexCOP/person/monthUrban population
Santander121.69$670,1691,222,019
Bogotá, D.C.119.94$660,5337,912,359
Boyacá112.58$620,017181,551
Cauca112.09$617,310289,308
Antioquia109.13$600,9723,955,810
Risaralda107.26$590,723668,314
Huila107.14$590,023376,767
Quindío106.85$588,462298,425
Chocó106.26$585,168121,595
Nariño104.52$575,607315,662
Tolima100.89$555,608514,685
Caldas99.53$548,137511,105
Caquetá98.13$540,401163,675
Meta96.52$531,554537,605
Bolívar95.30$524,805903,881
Valle del Cauca92.90$511,6382,323,097
Atlántico90.56$498,7212,000,421
Norte de Santander90.46$498,1981,013,148
Córdoba89.05$490,431450,188
Magdalena89.01$490,202521,897
Cesar88.68$488,369540,530
Sucre86.42$475,951289,318
La Guajira75.07$413,433153,756

Method, coverage, and limitations

What we calculate

Index = 100 × city poverty threshold ÷ the unweighted mean of all 23 thresholds in that year. Indices retain the source file’s rounding; COP means are recalculated from the original values.

The weighted figure uses each urban domain’s population, including its metropolitan area. It does not represent all of Colombia.

Bogotá · 1 municipalities in the domain: 11001.

A proxy, not a pure price index

Poverty thresholds reflect basket composition and non-food spending as well as prices. They may amplify price differences. The historical spatial price deflator (DEP) is a methodological cross-check, not a comparable current estimate.

Bogotá · Rebased DEP, 2016–2017 household budget survey: 106.47. Not combined with the index for 2025.

CPI: DANE monthly changes; annual changes and index levels are compounded derivatives. The files begin in September 2023 and do not include the earlier months needed to rebuild the full series from 2018.

Sources and downloadable data

Supplied snapshot dated September 18, 2026, attributed to DANE. No automatic updates.

DANE · Poverty thresholds · source for the selected year
Geometry: MGN 2018, third-party simplification
archivo_a_serie_anual.csvarchivo_a_nivel_precios_poblacion.csvarchivo_b_ipc_mensual.csvcontraste_dep_dane.csvcobertura_cruce.csvareas_metropolitanas.csvfuentes_inventario.csvOriginal methodological notes (Spanish)

Validated: 23 cities × 5 years; 22 cities × 36 months with no duplicates or gaps. No values are imputed for departments without coverage.