Ecuador Import Trade Data: $30.90B in 2023, Down 6.52%

An Oil Exporter That Still Imports Billions in Fuel

Ecuador imported $30.90 billion worth of goods in 2023, down 6.52% from $33.05 billion the year before, a total that lands within a few hundred million dollars of the country's export total that same year. Mineral fuels led every import category, worth $7.46 billion, or 24.13% of the total, the same category that also tops Ecuador's export list. That isn't a contradiction. Ecuador's three domestic refineries have a combined capacity that meets only about half the country's diesel demand and a third of its gasoline demand, forcing the country to lean heavily on imported diesel and gasoline even as it continues exporting crude oil abroad.

Machinery and mechanical appliances ranked second at 10.04% ($3.10 billion), and vehicles followed close behind at 9.03% ($2.79 billion). Electrical machinery added 6.69% ($2.07 billion). Food industries residues and prepared animal fodder took 5.22% ($1.61 billion), a category with a direct link to Ecuador's export side. Ecuador imports roughly 700,000 metric tons of wheat annually specifically for shrimp feed, feeding the same farmed-shrimp industry that makes fish and crustaceans Ecuador's second-largest export category.

Pharmaceutical products took 4.31% ($1.33 billion), a category shaped by Ecuador's limited domestic drug manufacturing base, which leaves the country reliant on imported finished medicines and active ingredients alike. Plastics added 3.85% ($1.19 billion), much of it destined for packaging used across the food, seafood, and agricultural export industries that dominate the export side. Iron and steel contributed 2.95% ($912.63 million), tied to ongoing construction and the infrastructure needs of an expanding mining sector. Cereals, likely wheat and other grains that support both food processing and animal feed, added 2.15% ($664.27 million). Optical, photographic, and medical instruments closed out the top ten at 2.12% ($655.82 million).

The USA and China Supply Nearly Half of Everything Ecuador Buys

The United States supplied 26.82% of Ecuador's imports, worth $8.29 billion, a share that lines up closely with the country's role as the source of much of Ecuador's refined fuel. China ranked second at 20.72% ($6.40 billion). Colombia followed at 7.41% ($2.29 billion), a neighboring country with deep cross-border trade ties. Combined, those three suppliers made up 54.95% of total import value in 2023.

Brazil added 3.99% ($1.23 billion), and Peru, another bordering country, contributed 3.48% ($1.07 billion). South Korea took 2.76% ($853.19 million), a share that fits South Korea's position as one of the world's larger vehicle-exporting nations. Italy added 2.65% ($819.64 million), and Japan contributed 2.52% ($778.13 million), likely tied to the vehicle category as well, given Japan's own long history as a major car exporter to Latin America. Spain added 2.40% ($741.15 million), and Mexico closed out the top ten at 2.39% ($738.73 million). Compared with the export side, where Panama's outsized 14.37% share reflects transshipment rather than final demand, every country on this import list appears to represent a genuine source of goods rather than a shipping waypoint.

A Trade Balance That Stayed Close to Even

Ecuador's import total followed nearly the same five-year arc as its export total. It stood at $22.56 billion in 2019, then fell to $17.92 billion in 2020 as the pandemic disrupted global trade. It rebounded to $25.69 billion in 2021, then surged to $33.05 billion in 2022, the peak of this five-year window, before easing to $30.90 billion in 2023, down 6.52% year over year.

Ecuador's imports and exports moved in the same direction, and by a similar magnitude, in nearly every year covered here. That kind of balance is unusual for a country this dependent on commodity exports, since oil, shrimp, and banana revenue often swings independently of what a country needs to buy from abroad. Ecuador's import bill sat close to its export bill in both 2022 and 2023. Changes in global oil prices likely explain much of the movement on both sides of the ledger at once, since Ecuador is simultaneously a crude exporter and a refined-fuel importer. A rise in crude prices lifts export revenue, but it also raises the cost of the diesel and gasoline the country has to buy back. That two-sided exposure helps explain why the two totals have tracked each other so closely across this five-year window. Many other oil-exporting economies see their import and export totals drift apart during a price swing, since they either produce enough refined fuel domestically or don't need to import much of it in the first place. Ecuador's refinery shortfall means it rarely gets that luxury.