According to current projections, Ecuador’s population is expected to peak at 25.21 million people in 2079. The population, which sits at 17.64 million in 2020, will surpass 20 million people in 2031. After reaching its peak population in 2079, Ecuador is projected to finish the century with about 24.54 million people.
Ecuador’s population growth rate from 2019 to 2020 is 1.55%, adding about 269,000 people to the population. Ecuador has positive net migration and a fertility rate of 2.44 births per woman, more than the population replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman.
Ecuador still faces widespread poverty, with about 35% of its population living in poverty, which has resulted in chronic malnutrition. Rapid population growth would exacerbate these issues.
| Ecuador Population (as of 10/15/2024) | 18,180,379 |
| Last UN Estimate (July 1, 2024) | 18,135,500 |
| Births per Day | 736 |
| Deaths per Day | 259 |
| Migrations per Day | -54 |
| Net Change per Day | 423 |
| Population Change Since Jan. 1 | 121,824 |
Net increase of 1 person every 3.4 minutes
Population estimates based on interpolation of data from World Population Prospects
| One birth every 1.95 minutes | |
| One death every 5.57 minutes | |
| One emigrant every 26.67 minutes | |
| Net gain of one person every 3.4 minutes |
City | 2024 Pop. |
|---|---|
| Guayaquil | 1,952,029 |
| Quito | 1,399,814 |
| Cuenca | 276,964 |
| Santo Domingo de los Colorados | 200,421 |
| Machala | 198,123 |
| Manta | 183,166 |
| Portoviejo | 170,326 |
| Eloy Alfaro | 167,784 |
| Esmeraldas | 165,216 |
| Ambato | 154,369 |
Ecuador, which is on the west coast of South America, has the Pacific Ocean along its western border and otherwise touched by Colombia and Peru. Based on the 2019 population of 17,096,322, the population density of Ecuador is 156 people per square mile (60 people per square kilometer) – placing the country at 120th in the whole world. This is spread over the country’s 109,483 square miles (283,560 square kilometers) of surface area.
The majority of people in Ecuador live in the central regions, the Andes mountains or along the coast of the Pacific Ocean. Only 3% of the total population lives in the tropical forest east of the mountains, which still remains very sparsely populated.
The largest concentration of Ecuadorians live in the two largest cities: Guayaquil with a population of 2,350,915 and the capital city of Quito with a population of 2,239,191, according to the 2010 Census data.
Year | Population | Change | Density (/km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 18,135,500 | 0.9% | 73 | 72 | 141 |
| 2023 | 17,980,100 | 1.07% | 72 | 72 | 142 |
| 2020 | 17,546,100 | 1.19% | 71 | 68 | 141 |
| 2019 | 17,340,000 | 1.7% | 70 | 68 | 141 |
| 2018 | 17,049,500 | 1.73% | 69 | 68 | 141 |
| 2017 | 16,759,500 | 1.54% | 67 | 68 | 141 |
| 2015 | 16,266,200 | 1.53% | 65 | 68 | 144 |
| 2010 | 15,076,700 | 1.72% | 61 | 66 | 143 |
| 2005 | 13,846,200 | 1.76% | 56 | 64 | 144 |
| 2000 | 12,689,200 | 1.83% | 51 | 63 | 143 |
| 1995 | 11,590,500 | 2.05% | 47 | 63 | 146 |
| 1990 | 10,473,700 | 2.38% | 42 | 64 | 143 |
| 1985 | 9,311,150 | 2.66% | 37 | 69 | 143 |
| 1980 | 8,165,880 | 2.78% | 33 | 70 | 144 |
| 1975 | 7,118,250 | 2.95% | 29 | 71 | 145 |
| 1970 | 6,155,390 | 3.02% | 25 | 74 | 144 |
| 1965 | 5,303,960 | 2.93% | 21 | 75 | 147 |
| 1960 | 4,590,890 | 2.76% | 18 | 76 | 148 |
| 1955 | 4,006,190 | 2.64% | 16 | 79 | 149 |
Year | Population | Change | Density (/km²) | Population Rank | Density Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 18,135,500 | 0.9% | 73 | 72 | 141 |
| 2025 | 18,289,900 | 0.83% | 74 | 72 | 141 |
| 2030 | 19,069,700 | 0.84% | 77 | 70 | 141 |
| 2035 | 19,800,100 | 0.76% | 80 | 71 | 140 |
| 2040 | 20,434,200 | 0.63% | 82 | 73 | 139 |
| 2045 | 20,950,600 | 0.5% | 84 | 74 | 141 |
| 2050 | 21,337,200 | 0.37% | 86 | 74 | 140 |
| 2055 | 21,590,700 | 0.24% | 87 | 74 | 138 |
| 2060 | 21,719,900 | 0.12% | 87 | 74 | 137 |
| 2065 | 21,730,200 | 0.01% | 87 | 74 | 137 |
| 2070 | 21,625,500 | -0.1% | 87 | 75 | 136 |
| 2075 | 21,404,300 | -0.21% | 86 | 76 | 136 |
| 2080 | 21,074,000 | -0.31% | 85 | 77 | 137 |
| 2085 | 20,654,300 | -0.4% | 83 | 76 | 137 |
| 2090 | 20,168,400 | -0.47% | 81 | 77 | 137 |
| 2095 | 19,641,100 | -0.53% | 79 | 78 | 138 |
28.8
Total
28
Male
29.6
Female
There are people over age 18 in Ecuador.
Year | Date |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 2020 |
| 2010 | 28 November 2010 |
| 2001 | 25 November 2001 |
| 1990 | 25 November 1990 |
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is bordered by Colombia, Peru and the Pacific Ocean. Along with the mainland, the country also includes the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific, which are about 620 miles west of the mainland.
Ecuador has a very ethnically diverse population. As of 2014, the largest ethnic group remains Mestizos, descendants of Spanish colonists and indigenous people, who make up 71.9% of the population. Amerindians account for nearly 7% of the population, while Afro-Ecuadorians, who live mostly in Imbabura and Esmeraldas provinces, make up 7% of the population. White people of European descent make up 12.% of Ecuador's population.
Most of the ethnic groups of Ecuador descend from the Spanish colonists and South American Indians, as the mixture of these two groups created the Mestizo category. Afro-Ecuadorians are descendants of black slaves who arrived in the country to work on plantations in the 16th century. Until the 1950's, the geography of ethnicity in Ecuador remained very well-defined until a jump in migration.
Just decades ago, most Mestizos lived in small rural towns in the countryside, Indians made up the majority of the rural Sierra population, black residents lived in Esmeraldas, Carchi and Imbabura provinces while the white population resided mostly in the large cities. Due primarily to pressure on the Sierra land resources, Indians began migrating to the cities and many began switching their ethnic identity to Mestizo beginning in the 1980's.
Ecuador has a long history with Christianity, and it remains the prominent religion today, but it is not the power that it once was. Catholicism was named the official religion in 1869, but in 1899 a revised constitution allowed for more religious freedom. Today 79% of the population is Roman Catholic, 11% are Protestant, and the majority of the remaining 10% of the population is atheist or agnostic.
Oil is by far the most prominent industry in Ecuador, and they experienced a significant economic boost during the 2007-2014, but have been struggling to find their feet in the years since. The economy is still growing slightly, but not at the rates of the boom. In March of 2019, the International Monetary Fund approved $10 billion US dollars in support.
Ecuador has been its own nation, free from Spain, since 1830. This was followed by a long period of internal conflict due to conflicting ideologies within the newly forming government. However, Ecuador has managed to stay out of any major disputes with other nations, save a minor border war with Peru in 1981. The rate of growth was close to 3%, for most of the 1900s until it began to gradually slow during the 1908s, coming down to 2% around 2000.