| Economy - overview | Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources, which have accounted for 40% of the country's export earnings and one-third of central government budget revenues in recent years. Consequently, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. In the late 1990s, Ecuador suffered its worst economic crisis, with natural disasters and sharp declines in world petroleum prices driving Ecuador's economy into free fall in 1999. Real GDP contracted by more than 6%, with poverty worsening significantly. The banking system also collapsed, and Ecuador defaulted on its external debt later that year. The currency depreciated by some 70% in 1999, and, on the brink of hyperinflation, the MAHAUD government announced it would dollarize the economy. A coup, however, ousted MAHAUD from office in January 2000, and after a short-lived junta failed to garner military support, Vice President Gustavo NOBOA took over the presidency. In March 2000, Congress approved a series of structural reforms that also provided the framework for the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the economy, and growth returned to its pre-crisis levels in the years that followed. Under the administration of Lucio GUTIERREZ - January 2003 to April 2005 - Ecuador benefited from higher world petroleum prices. However, the government under Alfredo PALACIO reversed economic reforms that reduced Ecuador's vulnerability to petroleum price swings and financial crises, allowing the central government greater access to oil windfalls and disbursing surplus retirement funds. |
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| GDP | 2.8% (2006) |
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| GDP - real growth rate | 4.1% (2006 est.) |
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| GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 6.3%
industry: 33.5%
services: 60.2% (2006 est.) |
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| Population below poverty line | 38.5% (FY0506) |
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Household income or consumption
by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2%
highest 10%: 32%
note: data for urban households only (October 2003) |
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Distribution of family income
- Gini index | 42
note: data are for urban households (2003) |
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| Labor force | 4.57 million (urban) (2006 est.) |
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| Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 8%
industry: 24%
services: 68% (2001) |
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| Unemployment rate | 10.6% official rate; but underemployment of 47% (2006 est.) |
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| Budget | revenues: $11.5 billion
expenditures: planned $10.46 billion; including capital expenditures of $1.6 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Industries | petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals |
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| Industrial production growth rate | 5% (2006 est.) |
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Electricity -
production | 12.2 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
production by source | fossil fuel: 81%
hydro: 19%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001) |
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Electricity -
consumption | 12.95 billion kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
exports | 35 million kWh (2004) |
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Electricity -
imports | 1.642 billion kWh (2004) |
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| Oil - production | 493,200 bbl/day (2005 est.) |
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| Oil - consumption | 148,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - exports | 387,000 bbl/day (2004 est.) |
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| Oil - imports | NA bbl/day |
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| Oil - proved reserves | 5.115 billion bbl (2006 est.) |
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| Agriculture - products | bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp |
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| Exports | $12.56 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Exports - commodities | petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp |
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| Exports - partners | US 50.6%, Peru 7.9%, Germany 4.3%, Colombia 4.3% (2005) |
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| Imports | $10.81 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Imports - commodities | vehicles, medicinal products, telecommunications equipment, electricity |
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| Imports - partners | US 22.1%, Colombia 14.8%, Venezuela 7.7%, Brazil 7.2%, China 5.2% (2005) |
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| Debt - external | $18.1 billion (2006 est.) |
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| Economic aid - recipient | $216 million (2002) |
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| Currency code | USD |
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| Exchange rates | the US dollar is used; the sucre was eliminated in 2000 |
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| Fiscal year | calendar year |
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