Ecuador:
Economy

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Other pages in this profile of Ecuador:
Geography, People, Government, Communications & Transportation, Military & Transnational Issues.


Economy - overview	Definition Ecuador is substantially dependent on its petroleum resources, which have accounted for more than half of the country's export earnings and one-fourth of public sector revenues in recent years. In 1999/2000, Ecuador suffered a severe economic crisis, with GDP contracted by more than 6%, with a significant increase in poverty. The banking system also collapsed, and Ecuador defaulted on its external debt later that year. In March 2000, Congress approved a series of structural reforms that also provided for the adoption of the US dollar as legal tender. Dollarization stabilized the economy, and positive growth returned in the years that followed, helped by high oil prices, remittances, and increased non-traditional exports. From 2002-06 the economy grew 5.5%, the highest five-year average in 25 years. The poverty rate declined but remained high at 38% in 2006. In 2006 the government of Alfredo PALACIO (2005-07) seized the assets of Occidental Petroleum for alleged contract violations and imposed a windfall revenue tax on foreign oil companies, leading to the suspension of free trade negotiations with the US. These measures, combined with chronic underinvestment in the state oil company, Petroecuador, led to a drop in petroleum production in 2007. PALACIO's successor, Rafael CORREA, raised the specter of debt default - but Ecuador has paid its debt on time. He also decreed a higher windfall revenue tax on private oil companies, then sought to renegotiate their contracts to overcome the debilitating effect of the tax. This generated economic uncertainty; private investment has dropped and economic growth has slowed significantly.
GDP (purchasing power parity)	Definition - World rank and map $98.79 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate)	Definition $44.18 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate	Definition - World rank and map 1.9% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita	Definition - World rank and map $7,200 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector	Definition agriculture: 6.7% industry: 35.1% services: 58.2% (2007 est.)
Labor force	Definition 4.51 million (urban) (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation	Definition agriculture: 8% industry: 24% services: 68% (2001)
Unemployment rate	Definition - World rank and map 9.3% (2007 est.)
Population below poverty line	Definition 38.3% (2006)
Household income or consumption by percentage share	Definition lowest 10%: 2% highest 10%: 35% note: data for urban households only (October 2006)
Distribution of family income - Gini index	Definition - World rank and map 46 note: data are for urban households (2006)
Inflation rate (consumer prices)	Definition - World rank and map 2.2% (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed)	Definition - World rank and map 22.2% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget	Definition revenues: $13.46 billion expenditures: planned $11.96 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt	Definition - World rank and map 33.6% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products	Definition bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc (tapioca), plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp
Industries	Definition petroleum, food processing, textiles, wood products, chemicals
Industrial production growth rate	Definition - World rank and map 1.4% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production	Definition - World rank and map 12.94 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 8.855 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 635.8 kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports	Definition 16 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports	Definition 1.723 billion kWh (2005)
Oil - production	Definition - World rank and map 538,000 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 162,000 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - consumption per 1,000 people	Definition - World rank and map 11.6 bbl/day (2005)
Oil - exports	Definition - World rank and map 420,600 bbl/day (2004 est.)
Oil - imports	Definition - World rank and map 44,680 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 4.727 billion bbl (2007 est.)
Natural gas - production	Definition - World rank and map 249.4 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption	Definition - World rank and map 249.4 million cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption per capita	Definition - World rank and map 18 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports	Definition - World rank and map 0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves	Definition - World rank and map 9.369 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance	Definition - World rank and map $1.464 billion (2007 est.)
Exports	Definition - World rank and map $14.37 billion (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities	Definition petroleum, bananas, cut flowers, shrimp, cacao, coffee, hemp, wood, fish
Exports - partners	Definition US 42%, Peru 8.5%, Colombia 6.3%, Chile 4.9% (2006)
Imports	Definition - World rank and map $12.76 billion (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities	Definition industrial materials, fuels and lubricants, nondurable consumer goods
Imports - partners	Definition US 21.6%, Colombia 12.4%, Brazil 6.8%, China 6.2% (2006)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold	Definition - World rank and map $3.521 billion (30 November 2007 est.)
Debt - external	Definition - World rank and map $16.93 billion (31 December 2007)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home	Definition $16.31 billion (2007 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad	Definition $1.749 billion (2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares	Definition $4.04 billion (2006)
Economic aid - recipient	Definition $209.5 million (2005)
Currency (code)	Definition US dollar (USD)
Exchange rates	Definition the US dollar is used; the sucre was eliminated in 2000
Fiscal year	Definition calendar year

Ecuador: Economy

Ecuador:
Economy