1. Measuring and evaluating the creative economy in Colombia

As a developing country, Colombia has a very different profile to the majority of OECD countries (Table 1.1). At 51 million people, Colombia has the 10th highest population of OECD countries (OECD, 2022[1]). A large share of the population live in rural areas, with around 17% of the population living in areas remote from cities, compared to an OECD average of 9% (OECD, 2022[2]). In 2021, Colombia had the lowest GDP per capita of OECD countries at USD 17 299, compared to an OECD average of USD 49 370 (OECD, 2022[3]) and in 2017 household disposable income in Colombia was around 40% lower than OECD average (OECD, 2022[4]). Employment rates in the country are high, however the labour market is characterised by high levels of informality.

Colombia have put culture and creativity at the heart of development planning through the Orange Economy policies. The concept of the Orange Economy represents a new development model promoted by the administration of Iván Duque (2018-2022), that places culture and creativity as a central pillar of the development agenda. The policy considers the creative economy not from a welfare perspective (e.g. a sector requiring government intervention to maintain), but rather recognises the creative economy as a tool for income and wealth generation, encompassing the improvement of opportunities through capacity building, and the guarantee of cultural rights.

Since proposing the Orange Economy Law in 2017, the aim has been to stimulate the creative sector through seven management strategies. These management strategies are collectively known as the seven “I”s, encompassing: Information, Institutions, Infrastructure, Industry, Integration, Inclusion and Inspiration (see chapter 2 for more detail on the seven “I”s and the broader Orange Economy policy).

A key part of Colombia’s Orange Economy strategy was the expansion of its cultural satellite account. Colombia had produced cultural satellite account statistics since 2002 but in 2019 the methodology of the satellite was updated and the coverage expanded to include a broader range of sectors and to incorporate data on employment in cultural occupations (see Box 1.1 for description of what is included in Colombia’s Orange Economy). The expansion of the Culture Satellite Account to the current Culture and Orange Economy Satellite Account enabled more granular mapping of the value generated by the whole Orange Economy, including the partial GVA contribution of some industry sectors.

This investment in information gathering was fundamental to being able to monitor and evaluate the role of culture in Colombia and the impact of the Orange Economy policy. Having detailed and disaggregated information for the different activities that make up the Orange Economy provides all actors in the ecosystem with data to guide their investments, help minimise risks and assess the development of the sector. The new methodologies adopted by Colombia in this regard, including at the sub-national level (see section 1.1.4) have been fundamental in capturing the progress and characteristics of the Orange Economy and has been hugely successful in improving Colombia’s understanding of the sector.

Colombia’s Orange Economy Information System (SIENA) has helped coordinate the Culture and Orange Economy Satellite Account and other statistical data. Data on the Orange Economy are available on a centralised platform on the National Administrative Statistics Department (DANE) website, gathering a total of 175 indicators on employment, firm, GVA, and other statistical items. Led by DANE, the SIENA has enabled the national government to gather information from an array of sources to create a more granular understanding of the sector. SIENA indicators differ from those of satellite account as they are based on both monetary and non-monetary data collected from cultural entities in Colombia, while those of the satellite account assembles macroeconomic information. Colombia’s National Training Service (SENA) has also made a push to increase data available on the Orange Economy, working with DANE to unify professional classification codes, generating over 3 000 codes. These services also fulfil an important role in disseminating information on the Orange Economy to those working on the sector, potential investors and the wider public.

GVA contribution varies between the different parts of the Orange Economy. GVA of the Orange Economy represented on average 2.9% of the national value added in the period 2018-2020 (DANE, 2021[8]). Around 12% of Orange Economy GVA in 2020 came from micro enterprises, indicating both their importance to the Orange Economy and the success of Colombia’s satellite account in seeking to capture additional data on this group. Around half (50.2%) of Orange Economy GVA comes from the creative industries group, with GVA driven largely by the contribution the digital software sector, which makes up around 70% of the GVA contribution of this group.

The implementation of the Orange Economy policy in 2017 marks a turning point in GVA growth trends for the sector. GVA of the Orange Economy was trending down before the implementation of the policy in 2017. Moreover, there was a large gap between GVA growth rates for the total economy and GVA growth rates for the Orange Economy, with GVA of the Orange Economy even seeing negative growth in 2016 and 2017. However, in 2018 GVA of the Orange Economy increased by 0.8% compared to 2017, and it increased by 1.8% in 2019 compared to 2018. The growth trajectory of the Orange Economy post 2017 resulted in a narrowing of the gap between total economy GVA growth and Orange Economy GVA growth, suggesting that early implementation of the Orange Economy was beginning to boost the economic performance of the sector.

GVA of the Orange Economy had been increasing before COVID-19. Between 2017 and 2019 GVA of the total Orange Economy increased by 3% overall (Figure 1.2). The arts and heritage group saw the biggest increase of 8%, including an increase of 36% in performing arts GVA and an increase of 21% in cultural tourism GVA. The creative industries group saw an increase of 1.4%, with high growth in the digital media and software sector (18% increase) being offset by declines in the advertising (29% decline) and design (7% decline) sectors. The cultural industries group saw a decline in GVA of 1.4% over this period, driven largely by a decline in the publishing subsector, which saw GVA decline by 10% between 2017 and 2019. The difference in in growth patterns between different parts of the Orange Economy reflects both international trends (e.g. the rise in digital media and software sector and a decline in publishing) and the impact of the Orange Economy policy on target areas such as cultural tourism.

However, the pandemic had a dramatic effect on the whole Orange Economy. In real terms, GVA of the Orange Economy declined by 21% between 2019-2020 (Figure 1.2). This compares to a decline in total economy GVA for Colombia of around 7% (OECD, 2022[12]). Though it is interesting to note that the Orange Economy was not the most affected sector, with the construction sector seeing a 27% decline in GVA over this period (OECD, 2022[14]). GVA of the arts and heritage group declined by 30% between 2019-2020, cultural industries declined by 25% and creative industries declined by 12%. In keeping with international trends (OECD, 2020[15]), the largest declines in GVA came from the performing arts subsector (71% decline) and cultural tourism (66% decline), which were most heavily impacted by travel restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing measures. However, some subsectors continued to grow despite the pandemic. For example, GVA of the digital media and software subsector grew by 8% between 2019 and 2020, and the cultural education subsector grew by 9%.

While GVA figures are not yet available for 2021, there are indications that the sector is recovering well. For example, analysis by the consultancy firm Raddar, shows that household spending on Orange Economy goods and services in January-May 2022 exceed spending in the same period in 2019. Moreover, data shows that Orange Economy exports grew 85.7% in value in January-September 2021, compared to the same period in the previous year (DANE, 2021[16]). Coupled with strong employment data for the first part of 2021 (see next section), this suggests that GVA of the Orange Economy is likely to have recovered quickly from the shock of 2020.

Over half of those working in the Orange Economy are self-employed. In 2020, around 2.6% of the workforce in Colombia was working in the Orange Economy (including both salaried and self-employed workers). Just under half (48%) of this employment was in the arts and heritage group, with 40% coming from creative industries and the remaining 12% from the cultural industries (Figure 1.3). As a whole, over half (53%) of workers in the orange economy were self-employed in 2020, with the highest levels of self-employment found in the arts and heritage group at 63%. While self-employment is often higher in cultural and creative sectors than in the rest of the economy (OECD, 2020[15]), in the Colombia the rate of self-employment it not substantially higher in the Orange Economy compared to employment in general, where 51% of those in employment are self-employed (OECD, 2022[17]).

Before the pandemic, self-employment in the Orange Economy had been growing in almost all subsectors. Total employment in the Orange Economy (including both salaried and self-employed) increased by 16% between 2014-2019. The number of people working in self-employment in the Orange Economy however increased by 27%. Figure 1.4 shows employment growth for each subsector of the Orange Economy for the period before the pandemic (2014-2019). During this period, self-employment was growing in almost every subsector, with the exception of the visual and performing arts subsector and the digital media subsector. In these two subsectors, declines in self-employment match almost exactly increases in salaried employment, suggesting that many workers may have shifted into more standardised forms of employment in these areas. For the cultural education and the news services subsectors, the opposite occurred, with a general shift away from salaried work towards more self-employment. In regards to news services, perhaps reflecting wider shifts in the media landscape, with greater reliance on on-line content and freelance journalism.

The pandemic created significant loss in employment in the Orange Economy in almost all subsectors, but this loss was not necessarily felt more heavily for the self-employed. Overall employment in the Orange Economy (including both salaried and self-employed) declined by 11% between 2019-2020 (DANE, 2021[13]), compared to a decline of 10% in overall employment in Colombia (OECD, 2022[19]). Unsurprisingly, the biggest job losses were in the visual and performing arts subsector, which saw an overall decline of 26% (Figure 1.5). However, here salaried employment saw a more marked impact than self-employment, with salaried employment in visual and performing arts declining by 39%, compared to a decline of 24% in self-employed workers. Cultural tourism, design and advertising also saw a larger proportional loss of salaried employment than self-employment. Consistent with international trends (OECD, 2022[20]), employment in the digital media subsector increased in 2020, but whilst self-employment in the sector had been trending downwards before the pandemic, it was this form of work which saw the largest increase between 2019-2020 (27% compared to 8% increase in salaried employment).

Employment in the Orange Economy bounced back quickly from the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2021, employment in the Orange Economy was down 9.9% compared to the first quarter of 2020 (Figure 1.6). However, in the second quarter of 2021 employment grew by 25% compared to the same period in the previous year and grew 12% in the third quarter compared to the same period in the previous year. Overall growth rates for the period suggest that employment is set to quickly return to pre-pandemic levels. While employment dropped by 11.9% between 2019 and 2020 for the January - September period, in the January - September 2021 period, employment increased by 7.7% compared to the same period of the previous year. While in many OECD countries the dramatic decline in the creative labour pool due to the pandemic has prompted fears that cultural and creative sectors may be slow to recover, this evidence from Colombia implies that the wide range of support measures targeted toward Orange Economy workers throughout the pandemic (see chapter 4) has been successful in maintaining the talent pool.

High informality is an ongoing structural challenge for the creative economy. The Ministry of Culture estimates around 34.6% of workers in the creative economy to be informal in 2020, dropping from an estimated 39.6% in 2019.1 Informality is a structural challenge across labour markets in Latin America, weighing on the social protection of cultural workers. The OECD has noted informality affects more than 50% of workers in Latin America (OECD et al., 2021[21]). In Colombia, household level data suggests 74.4% of those self-employed are informal workers across all sectors, while just under 20% of people in salaried employment are informal (Figure 1.7). A lower share of people in salaried employment are informal in Colombia compared to other OECD countries in Latin America, while a higher share of self-employed workers are informal. High structural rates of informality in the creative economy are a key consideration in the planning of Colombia’s Orange Economy policy, as well as being addressed through other initiatives, such as those involving the social and solidarity economy (see Box 1.2).

Formal employment in the Orange Economy was less heavily impacted by the pandemic and figures show that formal employment rates in 2022 surpassed those in 2019. Those in formal employment (i.e. those reporting social security payments) saw a far less severe decline in employment over the pandemic period (Figure 1.8). The number of formal Orange Economy workers registered in Colombia’s Register of Labor Relations (RELAB) only declined an average of 3.5% between 2019 and 2020. Moreover, the number of formal Orange Economy workers increased by 4.8% between 2020 and 2021, and the first quarter of 2022 saw formal employment growth of 2.8% compared with the 2021 average. Colombia has sought to incentivise identification of cultural workers through programmes such as SoyCultura (Box 1.3). These formalisation efforts appear to be making good progress, with the number of Orange Economy workers reporting social security payments in 2022 exceeding the number in 2019.

Alongside issues of informality, employment in the creative economy is, in general, often underestimated in official statistics looking at main job. Employment counts taken from labour force surveys typically only consider a person’s main activity, and exclude data on second jobs. In the creative economy, many workers have a main job in other sectors, whilst working part time in cultural or creative work (OECD, 2022[20]). This means that data often underestimates the true scale of employment in these sectors. Collecting data on second jobs in the Orange Economy could greatly strengthen Colombia’s approach.

Employment in the creative ecosystem includes not only those working in the sector, but also those working in creative jobs outside the sector. The trident approach to measuring cultural and creative employment includes all those working in cultural and creative industry sectors and those working in cultural and creative occupations in other sectors of the economy (Higgs and Cunningham, 2008[30]). The current Orange Economy Satellite account could be strengthened by including those working in jobs related to culture and creativity, in non-Orange Economy sectors (for example, a designer working for a car manufacturer). For example, evidence shows that around 40% of cultural and creative employment can be found outside of cultural and creative sectors across the OECD (Figure 1.9). Gathering data on Orange Economy workers throughout the economy could greatly strengthen understanding of how the Orange Economy policy may be supporting employment across the economy.

While the satellite account is mainly focused at the national level, work is underway to expand the production of territorial observatories for the Orange Economy. A Territorial Satellite Account for Bogotá was implemented in 2017, which provides similar information to the national satellite account, but at the local level. Since 2019, Bogotá has adapted the methodology used to be in keeping with the national Orange Economy satellite account and were active participants in developing the new methodology at national level. Work is also underway to expand data collection for the creative economy at a territorial level. In addition to the one located in the capital, Orange Economy “observatories” have been set up in Cali and Medellín, with the aim to develop a network of observatories across the country. These observatories aim to promote research, innovation and creativity through collaborations between state institutions, civil society, private companies and academia. Local observatories also administer territorial data. These territorial accounts are an important step in offering regular statistical information at the local level, which can be used to help evaluate and guide policy making. Observatories are growing as a networking and coordination space for the sector.

In addition, mapping studies have been conducted to gather information at the local level. As part of its strategy, the government launched several “express” cultural and creative industries mapping exercises in Colombian municipalities. The National Consulting Centre conducted the mappings locally, with support from the country’s territorial development bank (Findeter). The National Consulting Centre used methods such as geolocation data, surveys and focus groups in each municipality to gather information on local actors, challenges, bottlenecks and other aspects of the local creative ecosystem (see Box 1.4).

A main strength of these express mapping studies was their integration of data sources. Official data on Orange Economy businesses and workers from the Single Business Registry (RUES) and the Integrated Contribution Settlement Form (PILA) was complemented by local identification strategies. Here key networks were identified at the local level and information on local actors sourced through these networks. This approach allowed municipalities to additionally capture information on those actors who were working informally. Moreover, the studies incorporated qualitative data from interviews, workshops and focus groups as well as detailed analysis on local policies and programs.

This section of the report uses the Eurostat definition of cultural and creative sectors (Eurostat, 2018[31]), which was designed to capture as much cultural and creative activity as possible whilst allowing for international comparison (see Box 1.5). This Eurostat definition is much narrower than the definition of the creative economy used within the Orange Economy policy (see Box 1.1). The second part of this chapter relates exclusively to this narrower definition. To illustrate how much narrower the Eurostat CCS definition is compared to the Orange Economy sectors, Figure 1.10 compares GVA of Colombia’s CCS and GVA Colombia’s Orange Economy in 2020. While GVA of the Orange Economy amounted to around COP 22 988 billion, Colombia’s CCS GVA amounted to around COP 3 803 billion. As such, readers are advised that statistics relating to CCS presented here for international comparisons will differ from statistics relating to the Orange Economy, as defined by the Colombian government.

A high proportion of enterprises in Colombia were in cultural and creative sectors in 2018, one year after the launch of the Orange Economy policy. Comparing Colombia’s CCS to other OECD countries using the Eurostat definition of cultural and creative sectors (see Box 1.5), CCS enterprises made up just under 9% of the total business economy in Colombia in 2018, compared to an OECD average of 7% (Figure 1.12). However, it is important to note, that this share may be slightly over inflated, as data disaggregation issues mean that some of the engineering sector is captured within the Architecture subsector for Colombia. If we exclude the Architecture sector entirely, the remaining CCS subsectors accounted for around 6% of enterprises in the business economy in Colombia (Figure 1.13). Whilst this is slightly below the OECD average of 7%, it is a higher proportion than many other developed countries.

The largest proportion of CCS enterprises were found in the more creative (i.e. less traditionally cultural) subsectors of CCS. Just over a third of CCS enterprises (34%) were in the architectural and engineering activities subsector in Colombia in 2018 (Figure 1.14). Though this is perhaps unsurprising given the slightly broader definition of this category, mentioned above, for illustration, the proportion of CCS enterprises in the architectural activities subsector ranged from 5% in Norway to 29% in Greece. Colombia also has strengths in specialised design, photography and translation and interpretation, with this subsector accounting for 31% of all CCS enterprises and in the retail trade of books, newspapers and music accounting for 13% of all CCS enterprises. This strength in retail is particularly apparent when compared to most other OECD countries, with Italy being the only other OECD country for which data was available with a share above 10%. See Annex Table 1.A.2 for information on what is included in each subsector.

Official data show a far larger proportion of CCS businesses in Colombia had at least 10 employees, compared with OECD average. Across the OECD, only 4% of CCS enterprises employed 10 people or more in 2018. In Colombia this figure is just over 10%, ranking it third among OECD countries for which data are available (Figure 1.15). Consistent with the vast majority of OECD countries however, the share businesses with at least 10 employees was smaller in CCS than in the business economy in general at 13%. It is also worth noting that 99.7% of CCS enterprises in the business economy in Colombia were SMEs (fewer than 250 employees), compared to an average of 99.9% of CCS businesses across the OECD. The highest shares of micro enterprises (less than 10 employees) were found in the Manufacturing of jewellery and musical instruments subsector (the subsector most closely linked to traditional crafts), with 97% of these businesses being micro enterprises (Figure 1.16). Publishing and Libraries, archives and museums had the smallest share of micro enterprises, 80% and 76% respectively.

Despite relatively high shares of CCS enterprises, their contribution to GVA was low compared to other OECD countries in 2018. In 2018, cultural and creative sectors contributed 0.7% of total business economy GVA compared to an OECD average of 2.2% (Figure 1.17). In part, this reflected Colombia’s relatively low shares of firms operating in higher productivity sub-sectors such as publishing2 and film, which accounted for 16% and 15% of CCS GVA respectively across the OECD in 2018 (Figure 1.18). For example, only 2% of CCS enterprises in Colombia were in the publishing sector in 2018, compared to an average of 4% of CCS enterprises in OECD countries for which data was available. Similarly, the motion picture, video and television programme production, sound recording and music publishing sector accounted for only 2% of CCS enterprises in Colombia, compared to an average of 13% in the OECD. Colombia have invested in a number of polices targeted towards this sector (see chapter 4) resulting in an increase of 5% in the number of enterprises in this sector between 2018 and 2020.

Enhanced data collection in Colombia allows for analysis of some parts of CCS which are not typically available from international sources. The GVA comparisons above derive from sources which do not typically include GVA data for the creative, arts and entertainment activities subsector, or the libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities subsector. This means that the GVA comparisons above do not account for these sectors. However, as a result of Colombia’s satellite account, it is possible to assess the contribution of these sectors to Colombia’s CCS GVA (Figure 1.19). Here we see that the creative, arts and entertainment activities subsector accounted for around 10% of Colombia’s CCS GVA in 2018, highlighting that the more cultural subsectors of CCS are also important sources of GVA generation.

GVA growth in Colombia’s CCS was beginning to trend upwards before the pandemic. Annual growth of Colombia’s CCS GVA was beginning to trend upwards after 2017 (Figure 1.20), mirroring the trend seen in the broader Orange Economy (see section 1.1.3). In particular, the creative, arts and entertainment sub-sector recorded an increase of 61% between 2014 and 2019 and the libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities sub-sector recorded an increase of 22% during this period (Figure 1.21). The effects of the pandemic on the GVA of CCS in general, and on the more traditional cultural sectors heavily affected by social distancing restrictions, is especially evident. GVA of CCS declined by 31% in total between 2019 and 2020, and GVA of the creative, arts and entertainment sub-sector fell by 66%.

The proportion of household expenditure spent on recreation and culture in Colombia is lower than the majority of OECD countries. Data from Colombia’s system of national accounts (SNA) shows that in 2019, 6.1% of household spending in Colombia was made on recreation and culture, compared to an OECD average of 8.5% (Figure 1.22). This in part reflects the relatively lower average disposable income per capita in Colombia and the discretionary nature of spending on CCS products. Indeed, although household spending on recreation and culture increased in real terms between 2011-2019 its share of total household spending was stable.

Data from Colombia’s National Survey on Quality of Life expenditure module, shows that household spending on recreation and culture more than doubled in 2021, but that spending was uneven across geographies. Colombian survey data shows household spending on recreation and culture increased by 114.4% from 2020 to 2021, and showed the second largest increase of all spending categories after education (DANE, 2022[45]). However, spending on recreation and culture remains uneven across geographies, with those living in municipal capital areas spending, on average, over two times more on recreation and culture than those in dispersed rural and populated centre areas (COP 87 000 compared to COP 41 000, per household). There is also wide variation in household spending on recreation and culture between the different territorial departments in Colombia, with average spending in the capital, Bogotá, over double the national average and over four times higher than the lowest spending region (Figure 1.23).

However, household expenditures underestimate the true scale of engagement. Although expenditure on recreation and culture include some items not included under CCS (e.g. package holidays and on pets, see Box 1.6), it also excludes consumption of (or participation in) free cultural activities.

Colombia’s Cultural Consumption Survey (DANE, 2020[47]) points to relatively average levels of cultural participation for some forms of cultural activity, but low participation for others. For example, before the pandemic in 2017, just over 40% of those aged 12 and over had visited a cinema at least once in the last 12 months (Figure 1.24). This figure is broadly similar to European averages, with data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) ad hoc module on social and cultural participation in 2015, showing, 45% of the EU27 population aged 16 and over had visited a cinema at least once in the past 12 months (Eurostat, 2015[48]). Attending live music performances was also fairly high in Colombia, with around 30% of the population having attended such an event at least once in the last year, but only 18.2% of people had attended a theatre, opera of dance live event. Across the EU27 in 2015, an average of 42% of people had attended a live event (including music, dance and theatre) (Eurostat, 2015[48]). Moreover, less than 20% of Colombians had participated in other types of cultural activity in 2017, such as visiting a library or a museum. In 2020, cultural participation rates for Colombia followed broadly similar patterns to 2017, with cinema attendance and live music being the most frequent forms of participation. However, participation rates fell across dramatically with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, and associated lockdowns and social distancing measures. For example, live music participation dropped 11 percentage points between 2017 and 2020.

Cultural participation rates vary widely across different regions in Colombia. Cultural participation is substantially higher in Bogotá than in other regions of the country (Figure 1.25). For example, in 2020, while cinema attendance was at 46% in Bogotá, the next highest level was only 34% (in the central region) and was as low as 22% in Amazonía / Orinoquia. Only 2% of those living in Caribe had visited a museum in the past year, only 2% had visited an art gallery or exhibition and only 6% had visited a library.

Lack of interest appears to be the biggest barrier to cultural participation. In 2020, lack of interest or dislike was a more commonly cited reason for not participating in cultural activities than lack of money or an absence of cultural amenities for the majority of forms of cultural participation (DANE, 2020[47]). For example, 61% of people cited lack of interest or dislike as the reason for not visiting a library in the past year, 54% of people cited this as the reason for not attending theatre, opera or dance, 49% cited this for museums and 47% indicated this same reason for non-attendance to concerts, recitals, events, presentations or shows of live music. Lack of time was generally the second most highly cited reason, with COVID-19 related restrictions, lack of money and living far away also proving to be barriers.

Survey results suggest that lack of funds may not by the primary driver of non-participation in culture in Colombia, though policy measures can still play a role. In France, although a Culture Pass was introduced in 2019 primarily as a voucher instrument, its specific measures may help address disinterest as well as lack of funds (Box 1.7). For example, its focus on secondary school students can help reinforce the cultural participation habits of citizens at an age to set trends later in life. The voucher’s use of a smartphone application with targeted offers, is also a way to orient participation to activities where youth may be less engaged. Finally, passes for a younger age cohort are administered through school instructors, giving leverage to teachers to strategically engage students based on their training, and complement curricular work. More evidence on the drivers of non-interest may also further inform policy action on cultural participation.

Regional variation in household spending on culture and in cultural participation indicates that there is untapped potential for strengthening the Orange Economy in these areas. Strengthening the economic outlook for the Orange Economy could be helped by developing policy towards increasing cultural participation rates in more rural areas. Cultural participation can contribute to social cohesion and community empowerment (Matarasso, 1997[49]), can boost health and wellbeing (Fancourt and Saoirse, 2019[50]) and can be used to tackle societal issues, such as climate change. However, cultural participation also supports a strong cultural economy. Encouraging greater interest in cultural participation, especially in more rural or less populated areas, could therefore help to both boost local creative ecosystems and to fulfil the wider principles of the Orange Economy policy in supporting community development.

Led by subnational governments, government spending on cultural services has increased in Colombia. Between 2011 and 2019, government spending on culture increased from 0.7% of total government spending to 0.9%, compared to a net stagnation over this period of the OECD average (OECD, 2022[54]). This increase may reflect the budgetary effects of major legislation passed to increase tax revenues for cultural services, such as the Public Performances Law in 2011 (see chapter 4 for details on this law). Subnational governments play a leading role in overall public spending on cultural services. Indeed, in 2019, subnational governments in Colombia accounted for over 84% of total government spending on cultural services, the fourth-highest among selected OECD countries (OECD, 2022[54]). See Chapter 4 for a detailed discussion on public spending on culture.

Increasing the information available on Colombia’s CCS has been a success of Colombia’s creative economy strategy. Indeed, across the OECD and G20, measurement has been a key challenge and priority area for CCS development and comparison (OECD, 2021[55]). The Orange Economy satellite account has been instrumental in monitoring the Orange Economy at the national level and the programme to roll out regional satellite accounts will be fundamental to improving the availability of local indicators.

Despite the satellite account being a highly comprehensive resource of value generation and employment data, there remain some gaps in reporting which work could look to address. For example, more regular and disaggregated reporting of business counts in the Orange Economy could help in further interpreting trends in GVA and employment. Additionally, working towards the provision of more disaggregated data in Colombia’s main System of National Accounts (SNA) could aid in international benchmarking of CCS. For example, reporting on household spending at lower levels of disaggregation would enable comparisons of household spending on cultural services, a more accurate reflection of cultural demand than the broader recreation and culture category. Similarly, reporting enterprise counts at the most disaggregated level possible would enable better identification of CCS businesses and thus aid in international benchmarking to guide national policy efforts.

There is also scope to improve employment data. For example, more detailed data on demographic characteristics of the full Orange Economy workforce (such as age, gender etc.) beyond only those in formal employment would be useful. Moreover, enhanced reporting on the characteristics of both full and part time work (such as average hours worked, income distribution, contractual status, motivation for working in the sector) could help in identifying those in precarious forms of work. Whilst gathering data on second jobs and on informal workers is challenging, taking steps towards improving estimates of these groups as well, would aid in gaining a fuller picture of the sector and its labour dynamics.

Colombia could also look to produce data on Orange Economy workers throughout the economy. As much of the Orange Economy policy surrounds skills provision, gaining a greater understanding of how this policy may be enhancing employment prospects for those in cultural and creative jobs outside of Orange Economy is needed. Cultural and creative workers are known to migrate in and out of cultural and creative industry sectors over their careers, bringing their skills and expertise to other sectors of the economy. Gaining an understanding of the scale of these workers throughout the economy could be a first step towards understanding the broader benefits of the Orange Economy (for example, through contributing to innovation and value generation in other industry sectors). This would require expanding the methodology and developing occupation codes to compliment the industry codes developed through the satellite account.

The Orange Economy policy covers a wide range of different sectors, which will each have varying dynamics and needs. As highlighted by the different rates of GVA growth across the subsectors of the Orange Economy, each sector is influenced by different structural dynamics and external trends. For example, increased digitisation of the publishing sector internationally, is likely to be contributing to the GVA decline we see in this sector in Colombia. Policy could look to investigate productivity gaps and declining GVA at a sectoral level, by commissioning further research into the specific needs and dynamics of each part of the Orange Economy. Moreover, policy could look to further integrate sector specific advice and business support within existing national and local frameworks.

Boosting GVA of the Orange Economy also requires significant consideration of the particular characteristics of self-employed work. Before the pandemic, there was a general trend towards more self-employment in the Orange Economy. Self-employed workers in cultural and creative sectors generally work in more flexible, project-based conditions and generally experience less steady income streams than those in salaried work. Targeting business support programmes specifically towards self-employed workers could help them to navigate these complexities and boost their opportunities to generate revenues.

Household spending on culture and recreation is low in Colombia compared to other countries, as are participation rates in some forms of cultural activity. Cultural participation can contribute to social cohesion and community empowerment (Matarasso, 1997[49]), can boost health and wellbeing (Fancourt and Saoirse, 2019[50]) and can be used to tackle societal issues, such as climate change. However, beyond the intrinsic value of cultural participation and the additional benefits it can bring to communities and society at large, cultural participation (demand side) also encourages growth of the cultural and creative sector (supply side). A greater focus on encouraging cultural participation in Colombia could therefore greatly aid the efforts of the Orange Economy policy to drive development and growth.

Addressing cultural participation in non-capital and rural areas could be instrumental in boosting the Orange Economy and fulfilling the wider objectives of the policy. Cultural participation rates are particularly low in regions such as Caribe and household spending on culture is substantially lower for those living outside of cities. Encouraging interest in cultural participation in the more peripheral areas of the country and promoting cultural participation for underrepresented groups would offer a necessary synergy to the more supply side initiatives of the Orange Economy policy (such as business supports and tax reliefs) already implemented in these regions.

Colombia is well placed to deepen cultural participation due to its transversal policy approach for the creative economy. The National Council of the Orange Economy (Consejo Nacional de Economía Naranja – CNEN), for example, has already helped culture rise on the policy agenda of Ministries across the Colombian government. Stimulating the cultural consumption habits of young people, driving early exposure, may help instil adult participation habits, fostering long-term demand. The development of a culture pass for students, as has been experimented with in France through a smartphone application (Box 1.7), for instance, may complement the host of policies taken to raise cultural awareness in secondary school. Another relevant example for Colombia to consider is Brazil’s Vale Cultura pass, a cultural participation voucher distributed to low and middle-income workers through their employers, which works as an employer tax incentive. Workers who receive it can use monetary credit to purchase cultural goods and services.

Colombia’s National Survey of Cultural Habits could form the basis of policy action in the field. The survey already reviews a host of cultural participation activities within the population, such as the type of cultural activity citizens’ participate in. Steps are being taken within Colombia’s Ministry of Culture to strengthen surveying of the population’s cultural participation habits. As Colombia considers new questions and methods for its survey, Chile’s diverse use of surveys, such as studies on factors driving cultural participation, may be an example to consider. In Chile, for example, a 2020 study based on the country’s National Cultural Participation Survey concluded that youth exposure to the arts and cultural are a predictor of adult cultural participation (Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, 2020[56]). Chile’s results echo the objectives of France’s cultural pass, which incites youth participation in culture.

Other potential mechanisms to support cultural participation are discusses in chapters 2 and 3.

References

[52] Blanchard, S. (2021), Cinq mois après sa généralisation, le Pass culture cherche la bonne formule, https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2021/10/22/cinq-mois-apres-sa-generalisation-le-pass-culture-reste-un-essai-a-transformer_6099477_3246.html.

[7] CAB (2009), Cultural Satellite Account-Methodological manual for its implementation in Latin America, Andrés Bello Organization Agreement.

[34] CNC (2020), Implementation Document and Strategic Plan: City Commitment and Creative Agenda of Barranquilla, https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/52uoimxa/documento-mapeo-barranquilla.pdf.

[37] CNC (2020), Implementation document, integrated analysis and strategic proposal: Express Mapping of Cultural and Creative Industries in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander, https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/fjedq2qs/documento-mapeo-c%C3%BAcuta.pdf.

[38] CNC (2020), Implementation document, integrated analysis and strategic proposal: Express Mapping of Cultural and Creative Industries in Ibagué, Tolima., https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/wpchwp4o/documento-mapeo-ibagu%C3%A9.pdf.

[39] CNC (2020), Implementation document, integrated analysis and strategic proposal: Express Mapping of Cultural and Creative Industries in Neiva, Huila, https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/tbpe5zia/documento-mapeo-neiva.pdf.

[35] CNC (2019), Implementation Documents and Strategic Plan: Apuesta Ciudad y Agenda Creativa de Bucaramanga (Bucaramanga’s City and Creative Agenda), https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/d2bl0zcy/documento-mapeo-bucaramanga.pdf.

[40] CNC (2019), Integrated Implementation Document of the Cultural and Creative Industries Express Mapping in Santa Marta, https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/jwmk3ypd/documento-mapeo-santa-marta.pdf.

[36] CNC (2019), Integrated Implementation Document of the Express Mapping of Cultural and Creative Industries of the Tourist and Cultural District of Cartagena de Indias, https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/d1gjikyh/documento-mapeo-cartagena.pdf.

[27] DANE (2022), Annexes: (RELAB-Orange) January 2019 - March 2022, https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/mercado-laboral/empleo-y-desempleo#registro-estadistico-de-relaciones-laborales-relab.

[45] DANE (2022), National Survey on Quality of Life expenditure module 2021, https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/salud/calidad-de-vida-ecv/encuesta-nacional-de-calidad-de-vida-ecv-2021.

[8] DANE (2021), Culture and Orange Economy Satellite Account - Technical Bulletin, https://www.dane.gov.co/files/investigaciones/pib/sateli_cultura/2014-2020/boletin-CSCEN-2019prv-2020pre.pdf.

[13] DANE (2021), Culture and Orange Economy Satellite Account (CSCEN), https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/cuentas-nacionales/cuentas-satelite/cuenta-satelite-de-cultura-en-colombia/cuenta-satelite-de-cultura-y-economia-naranja-cscen-2019prv-2020pre#creaciones-funcionales.

[18] DANE (2021), Employed and Full-Time Equivalent Jobs (TETC) in activities of culture and orange economy, https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/cuentas-nacionales/cuentas-satelite/cuenta-satelite-de-cultura-en-colombia/cuenta-satelite-de-cultura-y-economia-naranja-cscen-2019prv-2020pre#empleo.

[16] DANE (2021), Orange Economy/Sixth Report, https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/cultura/economia-naranja/reportes-y-cuentas.

[47] DANE (2020), Cultural consumption survey (ECC), http://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/cultura/consumo-cultural.

[42] DANE (n.d.), Economic activities of the Orange Economy, https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/cultura/economia-naranja/actividades#listado-de-actividades-de-inclusion-total-34.

[5] DCMS (1998), Creative Industries Mapping Documents 1998, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, London, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/creative-industries-mapping-documents-1998.

[32] Eurostat (2021), Cultural statistics, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/culture/data/database.

[44] Eurostat (2021), Regional Structural Business Statistics (table sbs_r_nuts06_r2).

[31] Eurostat (2018), Guide to Eurostat Culture Statistics, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

[48] Eurostat (2015), Participation in cultural activities - EU-SILC survey (cult_pcs_ilc), https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/culture/data/database.

[50] Fancourt, D. and F. Saoirse (2019), What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/329834.

[51] French Republic (n.d.), Dispositif, https://pass.culture.fr/le-dispositif/.

[53] Grossin, B. (2021), Le Pass culture pour plus de quatre millions de jeunes, “c’est une belle promesse d’espoir !”, https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceculture/le-pass-culture-pour-plus-de-quatre-millions-de-jeunes-c-est-une-belle-promesse-d-espoir-7398723.

[30] Higgs, P. and S. Cunningham (2008), “Creative Industries Mapping: Where have we come from and where are we going?”, Creative Industries Journal, Vol. 1/1, pp. 7-30, https://doi.org/10.1386/cij.1.1.7_1.

[6] IDB (2013), The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity, Inter-American Development Bank, Washington.

[41] IDB, Oxford Economics, British Council, OAS (2014), The Economic Impact of the Creative Industries in the Americas, https://publications.iadb.org/en/publication/12503/economic-impact-creative-industries-americas.

[58] ILO (2021), Transition from the informal to the formal economy - Theory of Change, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---travail/documents/briefingnote/wcms_768807.pdf.

[49] Matarasso, F. (1997), Use or ornament: The social impact of participation in the arts, Comedia.

[29] Ministry of Culture (n.d.), Regístrate en Soy Cultura y sé el primero en enterarte de las convocatorias de MinCultura, https://www.mincultura.gov.co/prensa/noticias/Paginas/Convocatorias-de-MinCultura-.aspx.

[33] Ministry of Culture (n.d.), Reports from the regions, https://economianaranja.gov.co/reportes/.

[56] Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage (2020), , Participación cultural temprana y mediación como factores clave en la práctica lectora, http://observatorio.cultura.gob.cl/index.php/2021/03/12/participacion-cultural-temprana-y-mediacion-como-factores-clave-en-la-practica-lectora/.

[24] Ministry of Justice (2019), Law 1955 of 2019, https://www.suin-juriscol.gov.co/viewDocument.asp?ruta=Leyes/30036488#:~:text=El%20Plan%20Nacional%20de%20Desarrollo%202018%2D2022%20%E2%80%9CPacto%20por%20Colombia,concordancia%20con%20un%20proyecto%20de.

[28] Minsitry of Culture (n.d.), ¿Qué es Soy Cultura?, https://soycultura.mincultura.gov.co/#/pagina/que-es-soy-cultura.

[9] National Council of the Orange Economy (2019), Comprehensive Policy of the Orange Economy, https://economianaranja.gov.co/media/zpvnxktd/comprehensive-policy-of-the-orange-economy.pdf.

[23] National Department of Planning (2019), Plan Nacional de Desarrollo 2018-2022 “Pacto por Colombia, pacto por la equidad”, https://colaboracion.dnp.gov.co/CDT/Prensa/PND-Resumen-2018-2022.pdf.

[19] OECD (2022), Employment rate (indicator), https://doi.org/10.1787/1de68a9b-en (accessed on 9 June 2022).

[3] OECD (2022), Gross domestic product (GDP) (indicator), https://doi.org/10.1787/dc2f7aec-en (accessed on 16 June 2022).

[54] OECD (2022), National Accounts Statistics - Government expenditure by function (COFOG), https://doi.org/10.1787/na-data-en.

[12] OECD (2022), National Accounts Statistics (database), OECD, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/na-data-en.

[4] OECD (2022), OECD Economic Surveys: Colombia 2022, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/04bf9377-en.

[1] OECD (2022), Population (indicator), https://doi.org/10.1787/d434f82b-en (accessed on 16 June 2022).

[2] OECD (2022), Regional Demography - Share of national population by typology, https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=REGION_DEMOGR.

[17] OECD (2022), Self-employment rate (indicator), https://doi.org/10.1787/fb58715e-en (accessed on 5 July 2022).

[20] OECD (2022), The Culture Fix: Creative People, Places and Industries, Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED), OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/991bb520-en.

[14] OECD (2022), Value added by activity (indicator), https://doi.org/10.1787/a8b2bd2b-en (accessed on 28 June 2022).

[25] OECD (2022), Workshop highlights: Social Protection and Tackling Informality: Building on the social and solidarity economy in Colombia, https://www.oecd.org/colombia/Social-Protection-and-Tackling-Informality-Colombia-workshop-highlights.pdf.

[55] OECD (2021), Note for Italy G20 Presidency Culture Working Group, https://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/OECD-G20-Culture-July-2021.pdf.

[43] OECD (2021), OECD Regional Statistics (database), OECD, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/6ef7b296-en.

[15] OECD (2020), Culture shock: COVID-19 and the cultural and creative sectors, https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/view/?ref=135_135961-nenh9f2w7a&title=Culture-shock-COVID-19-and-the-cultural-and-creative-sectors.

[21] OECD et al. (2021), Latin American Economic Outlook 2021: Working Together for a Better Recovery, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5fedabe5-en.

[11] Statistics Canada (2011), Classification Guide for the Canadian Framework for Culture Statistics 2011, https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/en/pub/87-542-x/87-542-x2011002-eng.pdf?st=hwZZ6qOK.

[22] Superintendence of the Solidarity Economy (2017), Superintendente de la Economía Solidaria habló sobre el presente y futuro del sector solidario..

[26] UAEOS (2020), Implementando el Programa Integral de Intervención la UAEOS construye territorios solidarios, https://www.uaeos.gov.co/Prensa/Noticias-la-UAEOS-est%C3%A1-construyendo-territorios-solidarios.

[46] UN (2018), Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP), United Nations, New York.

[10] UNESCO (2009), 2009 UNESCO Framework for Cultural Statistics.

[57] Varbanova, L. (2011), Cultural participation in education and lifelong learning: a catalyst for personal advancement, community development, social change and economic growth., Working Group on Education and Learning, Access to Culture Platform.

Notes

← 1. Ministry of Culture estimate based on DANE data. Original information sources: 1.) Gran Encuesta Integrada de Hogares: Total de ocupados en actividades económicas del sector cultural y creativo formales e informales 2.) Registro de Relaciones Laborales (RELAB): total de relaciones laborales formales del sector cultural y creativo que realizan pagos a seguridad social reportado a partir de la PILA (Planilla Integrada de Liquidación de Aportes).

← 2. Note that publishing of computer games is included in the Eurostat definition of the publishing sector, which largely accounts for the high GVA of this sector. Computer games are not included in Colombia’s definition of the publishing sector, used in the first part of this chapter.

Metadata, Legal and Rights

This document, as well as any data and map included herein, are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. Extracts from publications may be subject to additional disclaimers, which are set out in the complete version of the publication, available at the link provided.

© OECD 2022

The use of this work, whether digital or print, is governed by the Terms and Conditions to be found at https://www.oecd.org/termsandconditions.