Business and Economy in Ecuador, Currency

Ecuador's economy is mainly based on mining, agriculture and fishing. The development and exporting of oil have played a dominant role in the country's economy since the early 1970's. But recently Ecuador's economy began to depend more and more on the export of cocoa and bananas, of which Ecuador is the world's largest exporter and has been for several decades.

Ecuador has substantial petroleum resources which has accounted for 40% of the country’s export income and one-fourth of central government budget revenues in recent years. As a result, fluctuations in world market prices can have a substantial domestic impact.

In 2004, Ecuador imported approximately US $7.56 billion of services and goods from the United States and the United States purchased approximately US $4.20 billion of Ecuadorian exports.

Importing from Ecuador depends currently upon the destination country. The United States is the primary market for Ecuadorian exports as well as Ecuador’s largest supplier of imports.

Ecuador’s main export commodities are petroleum, bananas, cut flowers and shrimps. Its main export partners are the United States, Panama, Peru and Italy. Its main import commodities are vehicles, medicinal products, telecommunications equipment and electricity. The main import partners are the United States, Columbia, China, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Japan and Mexico.