The Informal or underground economy is understood as a series of activities that are classified within the informal sector of the economy. The phenomenon of informality has been present in the economy of developed and developing countries for decades. However, since the 1960s and as required by governments and international organizations, numerous studies on the subject have been undertaken by the International Labor organization (ILü) and by various authors that have contributed countless studies allowing a glimpse at the importance of informality in the world economies, considering that there is an excessive labor force and few jobs, which in turn fosters unemployment and thus leads to the existence of an informal economy.

The aim of this study is to analyze the informal economy and unemployment in the city of Bucaramanga, as an example of the excess labor force in the Santander department that cannot be fully absorbed into the local economy. This phenomenon fosters the existence of informal economies, wrongly referred to as "self-employed," that do not only not pay taxes and are not registered with the Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce, but they also create informal employment and incomes.