We modelled the Colombian long-run per capita growth under Markov switching regimes with time-varying transition probabilities (TVTP) to explain regime changes in the economic growth.We found evidence of nonlinearity in the per capita economic growth, and identified two different levels in the data associated with depression and sustainable growth regimes.The hypothesis of fixed transition probabilities (FTP) is rejected in favour of the time-varying transition probabilities.Then, TVTP model gives more information than the FTP model because the probabilities have changed significantly during the period under analysis and the explanatory variables are very informative in dating the evolution of the state of the economy, especially those associated with external shocks.In particular, the probability of remaining in the sustainable growth regime increases with a rise in terms of trade and decreases with a rise in government expenditures.Increases in government expenditures and terms of trade reduce the probability of being in the depression state while an increase in capital outflows raises the probability.