South America > Ecuador > Economy

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Agriculture > products bananas, coffee, cocoa, rice, potatoes, manioc, plantains, sugarcane; cattle, sheep, pigs, beef, pork, dairy products; balsa wood; fish, shrimp
Aid as % of GDP	1.1%		[88th of 129]
Debt > External	$17,560,000,000.00		[71st of 136]
Distribution of family income > Gini index	46		[4th of 43]
Economic freedom	1.55		[119th of 156]
Economy > Overview 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.
Exports	$14,370,000,000.00		[71st of 189]
GDP	$40,800,080,000.00		[60th of 203]
GDP > PPP	$51,330,000,000.00		[68th of 163]
GDP > Real growth rate	2%		[166th of 198]
GINI index	53.55		[5th of 40]
Gross National Income	$13,957,900,000.00		[68th of 172]
Human Development Index	0.759		[82nd of 178]
Income category	Lower middle income
Income distribution > Richest 10%	33.8%		[36th of 114]
Population below poverty line	38.3%		[6th of 46]
Poverty > Share of all poor people	0.23 % of world's poor		[31st of 80]
Public debt	33.1 % of GDP		[68th of 121]
Technological achievement	0.25		[50th of 68]
Tourist arrivals	529,000		[68th of 152]

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