Ecuador Economy - Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources, which have accounted for 40% of the country's export earnings and one-fourth of public sector 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, who took office in January 2003, Ecuador benefited from higher world petroleum prices, but the government has made little progress on fiscal reforms and reforms of state-owned enterprises necessary to reduce Ecuador's vulnerability to petroleum price swings and financial crises.

Ecuador Business - Ecuador has substantial oil resources and rich agricultural areas. Because the country exports primarily oil, bananas, and shrimp, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact. The aftermath of El Nino and the recent depressed oil market of 1997-98 drove Ecuador's economy downward. The banking sector collapsed during the late 1990's. Initial effects were bankrupt banks, increasing unemployment and concerns via its Brady Bonds with the United States. The Ecuadorian economy has yet to recover from its recent roller coaster ride. In fact, in 2000 their currency experienced a dollarization from their "Sucre" currency. The move has stabilized the currency, but is expected to trickle its benefit across industries and their exporting agreements. Today's government continues to prioritize their fiscal objectives as they manage foreign debt. Tourism has risen in their recent priority list. 

Ecuador oil has played a dominant role in the country's economy since the early 1970s. The oil is carried through a pipeline that crosses the Andes to the Pacific port of Esmeraldas, where a refinery operates. Over the last century, economic development depended on the exports of first cocoa and the bananas, of which Ecuador was the world's largest exporter for several decades. Now most recently, Ecuador has gained worldwide distribution of its flowers. Their strength comes from their roses which are grown mainly in the coastal lowlands.

In the highlands subsistence agriculture and the production of staples for the urban areas are predominant (corn, wheat, barley, potatoes, pulses, and various vegetables). In the coastal lowlands tropical crops are grown to export. Since the late 1940s, bananas have been the main commercial crop of this region. 

Small quantities of gold, silver, copper and zinc are produced. The country is known to have deposits of uranium, iron ore, lead, and coal. The manufacture of straw hat was the main export industry.

Ecuador’s strategic location has brought many twenty-first century investors and businessmen to the country. Located in the middle of the world, it opens its doors to commercial and cultural exchanges, alike. Ecuador is the world’s largest banana producer and one of its main flower exporters. Tourism is the country’s fourth largest income-earner, with oil being its number one revenue generating industry. Shrimp and cocoa are also of great importance to the nation’s economy, which now has the U.S. dollar as its official currency. With well-developed tourist infrastructures, Ecuador’s major cities offer all types of services from fine dining to lodging in the world’s most luxurious hotel chains. Quito is the political heart of the nation, Guayaquil is the country’s economic pulse, Manta is an important port and tourist destination, and Cuenca is the cultural center of Ecuador.

El 40% de la población activa trabaja en la agricultura, el 20% en la industria y el 40% en el sector de servicios. En 1965 se dio una ley para la modernización de la economía, hasta ese entonces de carácter predominantemente agraria, en la que se fomentaban las empresas industriales. En los años setenta, después de concluir la construcción del oleoducto trasandino que comunica los campos petroleros en la región del oriente con el puerto de Esmeraldas, se inició la explotación del petróleo. Entre los productos de exportación más importantes se cuenta también con plátanos, café, cacao, arroz, caña de azúcar, pescado y langostinos. La tasa de inflación alcanzó en 2002 el 12%, mientras que la de desempleo fue de 7,7%.