The perfect storm that raised the cost of living in the world in 2021

It was not in anyone's accounts that the global economy was going to recover so quickly and, of course, it was not on the radar to go from negative GDP data – due to the confinements – to important projections of economic growth that even exceed the levels of 2018, as is the case with Colombia, which this year would expand 9.7%.

Although good news, all this was accompanied by a double-edged sword: the strong recovery in demand. People came out of quarantine to "get even" and buy clothes, cars and even housing at a frantic pace.

Of course, all sectors required an equally frenetic amount of inputs to respond to the millions of shoppers. This is how a problem that continues to hit today was cooked over fire: the scarcity of raw materials.

To this was added the lack of containers and the high maritime freight rates on the planet. It has cost up to 600% more to bring a container to Colombia, in addition to the mere fact that South America is not among the main markets for shipping companies, which further complicated the situation.

As if that were not enough, Colombia still had the clouds generated by the National Strike, because the blockades and the public order situation made several vessels prefer to continue by and not unload in Buenaventura, or in the best of cases leave the merchandise in Cartagena.