Colombia Expat Forum

fecherklyn
Joined 2015
Posts: 1349

7 years ago

Utility costs in Colombia

7 years ago

I wonder if the following information may interest some of you as this forum receives frequent queries about the cost of living in Colombia.

The costs I have targeted are limited to standard utility services in Medellin, but they should be fairly representative for most of us and Colombia as a whole. These utilities comprise:

EPM SERVICES IN MEDELLIN:
Acueducto (Water), Alcantarillado (Sewerage), Energia (Electricity), Gas, & Otras (including waste disposal)

UNE SERVICES IN MEDELLIN:
Telephone, Internet & Cable TV.

Data on the cost of these services is easy for me as I have maintained them on computerized budget schedule since I arrived here in Medellin 14 years ago. Here is a summary of what I have found:

My latest EPM & UNE invoices (32 dias, 21 enero al 21 feb) amount @ COP 743,853, including “contribuciones” of COP 123,167 and IVA (VAT) of COP 39,381. Thus a total tax burden of COP 162,548 - the equivalent of a rate of 28% on the pretax unit costs.

For comparative purposes, my identical invoices in June 2003 amounted to COP 372,841. On this basis, there has been a 99.5% overall increase over these 14 years which is very respectable when compared with the Colombian Consumer Price ratios. However, when analyzed further it is evident the great majority of these increases stems from the Electricity and Gas sectors and with the Phone and internet services posting very modest cost increases.

It should be noted my utility costs are constructed on Estrato 6 rates, the highest in Medellin which carry a “Contribucion” cost towards a subvention of the utility costs of persons living in Estrato 1 to 3 areas. This is effectively a (sur)tax that could otherwise be incorporated in other national taxes.

If anyone has any comments or queries on these figures, I will be happy to try to satisfy them.

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