Ecuador Population 2024 (Live)

18,320,870

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.

Population Rank
Growth Rate
2024 World Percentage
Land Area
248,360
The current population of Ecuador is 18,320,870 based on projections of the latest United Nations data. The UN estimates the July 1, 2024 population at 18,377,367.

Ecuador Growth Rate

Ecuador Population 2024 (Live)

Ecuador Population Clock

Ecuador Population (as of 3/11/2024)18,320,870
Next UN Estimate (July 1, 2024)18,377,367
Births per Day811
Deaths per Day249
Migrations per Day-53
Net Change per Day509
Population Change Since Jan. 136,139

Components of Population Change

One birth every 1.78 minutes
One death every 5.78 minutes
One emigrant every 27.17 minutes
Net gain of one person every 2.83 minutes

Ecuador Population Clock

City
2024 Population
Guayaquil1,952,029
Quito1,399,814
Cuenca276,964
Santo Domingo de los Colorados200,421
Machala198,123
Manta183,166
Portoviejo170,326
Eloy Alfaro167,784
Esmeraldas165,216
Ambato154,369

Ecuador Area and Population Density

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.

Largest Cities in Ecuador

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.

Ecuador Population Density Map

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Year
Population
Growth Rate
Density (/km²)
Population Rank
Density Rank
202418,377,3671.17%7469139
202318,190,4841.34%7368140
202017,588,5951.41%7167142
201917,343,7401.93%7068142
201817,015,6721.91%6968141
201716,696,9441.57%6768142
201516,195,9021.56%6568144
201014,989,5851.71%6066143
200513,770,0121.75%5565143
200012,626,5071.78%5163144
199511,561,6832.04%4763144
199010,449,8372.46%4264143
19859,254,3112.61%3770144
19808,135,8452.74%3372145
19757,105,7862.86%2972146
19706,172,2152.95%2573145
19655,337,3512.94%2175146
19604,618,1582.8%1975148
19554,022,3782.71%1678148

Ecuador Population by Year (Historical)

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Year
Population
Growth Rate
Density (/km²)
Population Rank
Density Rank
202418,377,3671.17%7469139
202518,563,3701.08%7571140
203019,486,9520.98%7870138
203520,342,2020.86%8270137
204021,094,5290.73%8570140
204521,741,4830.61%8873141
205022,269,7790.48%9073141
205522,680,6310.37%9172139
206022,971,5690.26%9272139
206523,145,7390.15%9372133
207023,189,4910.04%9372132
207523,109,594-0.07%9372132
208022,915,904-0.17%9272131
208522,628,477-0.25%9173133
209022,273,331-0.32%9072133
209521,875,516-0.36%8872133

Ecuador Population by Year (Projections)

Ecuador Population Pyramid 2024

Ecuador Median Age

28.8

Total

28

Male

29.6

Female

Ecuador Population by Age

There are people over age 18 in Ecuador.

Census Years

Year
Date
20202020
201028 November 2010
200125 November 2001
199025 November 1990

Ecuador Population Pyramid

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 Demographics

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 Religion, Economy and Politics

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 Population History

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.

Ecuador Population Rank 2024
Area (km²)
276,841
2024 Growth Rate
Capital
GDP (IMF '23)
$118.69
GDP (UN '22)
$115.05 Bn

Ecuador - General Info

Sources