Editing Demographics of Ecuador

{{Short description|none}}
<!-- "none" is a legitimate description when the title is already adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox place demographics
 | place              = [[Ecuador]]
 | image              = Ecuador single age population pyramid 2020.png
 | image_size         = 350px
 | alt                =
 | caption            = Ecuador [[population pyramid]] in 2020

<!-- main demographics -->
 | size_of_population =  18,213,749 (2023 estimate)([[List of countries by population|66th]])<ref>{{cite web|title=Contador Poblacional|url=https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/estadisticas/|website=ecuadorencifras.gob.ec|access-date=14 January 2023}}</ref>
 | growth=1.443% (2011 est.)
 | birth              = 13.2 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
 | death              = 5.0 deaths/1,000 population (2022 est.)
 | fertility          = 2.0 children (2024 est.)
|age_0–14_years = 28.23%
|age_15–64_years = 64.11%
|age_65_years = 7.66%
<!-- nationality -->
 | nation             = [[Ecuadorians|Ecuadorian]]
 | major_ethnic       = 
{{unbulleted list
|{{Tree list}}
* [[Multiracial people|Mixed]] (86.62%)<ref name="censoecuador"/>
** [[Mestizo]] (77.47%)
** [[Montubio]] (7.70%)
** [[Mulatto]] (1.45%)
{{tree list/end}}
}}
 | minor_ethnic       = {{unbulleted list
|{{Tree list}}
* [[Indigenous peoples in Ecuador|Indigenous]] (7.69%)<ref name="censoecuador">{{cite web|date=21 September 2023|title=Ecuador: Censo de Población y Vivienda 2022|url= https://www.censoecuador.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/InfoNacionalDatos.pdf|website= censoecuador.gob.ec|accessdate= 22 May 2024}}</ref>
* [[Afro-Ecuadorians|Black]] (3.36%)<ref name="censoecuador"/>
* [[White people|White]] (2.21%)<ref name="censoecuador"/>
* Others (0.12%)
{{tree list/end}}
}}

<!-- language -->
 | official           = 
 | spoken             = Spanish, other indigenous languages.
}}

[[demography|Demographic]] features of the population of [[Ecuador]] include population density, [[Ethnic group|ethnicity]], education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Ecuador experienced rapid population growth like most countries, but four decades of economic instability pushed millions of [[Ecuadorians]] out of the country. However, a rebound economy in the 2000s in urban centres improved the situation of living standards for Ecuadorians in a traditional class stratified economy.

The 2022 census revealed, 77.5% of the population identified as "[[Mestizo]]s", a mix of Spanish and Indigenous American ancestry, up from 71.9% in 2000. The percentage of the population which identifies as "white" has fallen from 6.1% (2010) to 2.2% in 2022.<ref name="censoecuador"/> [[Amerindians]] account for 7.7% of the population and 4.8% of the population consists of [[Afro-Ecuadorians]].<ref name="censoecuador"/> 
Other estimations put the Mestizo population at 55% to 65% and the indigenous population at 25%.<ref>Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities (2013), p. 422. Edited by Carl Skutsch</ref> Genetic research indicates that the ancestry of Ecuadorian Mestizos is predominantly Indigenous.<ref>{{cite journal| title = The three-hybrid genetic composition of an Ecuadorian population using AIMs-InDels compared with autosomes, mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome data| year = 2019| doi = 10.1038/s41598-019-45723-w| last1 = Zambrano| first1 = Ana Karina| last2 = Gaviria| first2 = Aníbal| last3 = Cobos-Navarrete| first3 = Santiago| last4 = Gruezo| first4 = Carmen| last5 = Rodríguez-Pollit| first5 = Cristina| last6 = Armendáriz-Castillo| first6 = Isaac| last7 = García-Cárdenas| first7 = Jennyfer M.| last8 = Guerrero| first8 = Santiago| last9 = López-Cortés| first9 = Andrés| last10 = Leone| first10 = Paola E.| last11 = Pérez-Villa| first11 = Andy| last12 = Guevara-Ramírez| first12 = Patricia| last13 = Yumiceba| first13 = Verónica| last14 = Fiallos| first14 = Gisella| last15 = Vela| first15 = Margarita| last16 = Paz-y-Miño| first16 = César| journal = Scientific Reports| volume = 9| issue = 1| page = 9247| pmid = 31239502| pmc = 6592923| bibcode = 2019NatSR...9.9247Z| s2cid = 195354041}}</ref>

==Population==
{{Historical populations
| type =
| title = Census population
|footnote = Source:<ref>{{cite web|title=EVOLUCIÓN DE LAS VARIABLES INVESTIGADAS EN LOS CENSOS DE POBLACIÓN Y VIVIENDA DEL ECUADOR|url=http://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/documentos/web-inec/Publicaciones/Evolucion_variables_1950_2010_24_04_2014.pdf|website=Ecuador en Cifras|access-date=27 July 2017}}</ref>
|1950 | 3202757
|1962 | 4467007
|1974 | 6521710
|1982 | 8060712
|1990 | 9648189
|2001 | 12156608
|2010 | 14483499
|2022 | 16938986
}}

The '''Ecuadorian census''' is conducted by the [[Politics of Ecuador|governmental institution]] known as ''INEC'', ''Instituto Nacional de Estadisticas y Censos'' (National Institute of Statistics and Census).<ref name="inec.gob.ec">INEC https://web.archive.org/web/20110201014932/http://www.inec.gob.ec/preliminares/somos.html</ref> The census in Ecuador is conducted every ten years, and its objective is to obtain the number of people residing within its borders. The current census now includes household information.

Index of growth:
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Percentage of population growth (census periods)
! style="text-align:center;"| No.
! style="text-align:center;"| Time lapse
! style="text-align:center;"| Growth percentile
|-
| 1 || 1950–1962 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.96%
|-
| 2 || 1962–1974 || style="text-align:right;"| 3.10%
|-
| 3 || 1974–1982 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.62%
|-
| 4 || 1982–1990  || style="text-align:right;"| 2.19%
|-
| 5 || 1990–2001 || style="text-align:right;"| 2.05%
|-
| 6 || 2001–2010 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.52%<ref>Preliminary Results http://www4.elcomercio.com/Pais/crecimos__2,1_millones_en_10_anos_.aspx{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
|}

===UN estimates===
According to {{UN_Population|source}} the total population was {{UN_Population|Ecuador}} in {{UN_Population|Year}}, compared to only 3,470,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2015 was 29.0%, 63.4% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6.7% was 65 years or older.<ref name="WPP 2015">{{cite web |url=http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/ |title=World Population Prospects, the 2015 Revision |work=United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs |date=2015 |access-date=20 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927071528/http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/ |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
!
! style="width:70pt;"|Total population<br /> (x 1000)
! style="width:70pt;"|Proportion<br />aged 0–14<br />(%)
! style="width:70pt;"|Proportion<br />aged 15–64<br />(%)
! style="width:70pt;"|Proportion<br />aged 65+<br />(%)
|-
| 1950
|3 470||39.5||55.2||5.3
|-
| 1955
|3 957||41.6||53.5||4.9
|-
| 1960
|4 546||43.3||52.0||4.7
|-
| 1965
|5 250||44.5||51.0||4.5
|-
| 1970
|6 073||44.3||51.5||4.3
|-
| 1975
|6 987||43.7||52.2||4.1
|-
| 1980
|7 976||41.8||54.1||4.1
|-
| 1985
|9 046||40.0||55.9||4.1
|-
| 1990
|10 218||38.2||57.5||4.3
|-
| 1995
|11 441||36.3||59.1||4.6
|-
| 2000
|12 629||34.7||60.3||5.0
|-
| 2005
|13 826||33.1||61.5||5.4
|-
| 2010
|15 011||31.0||63.0||6.0
|-
| 2015
|16 212||29.1||64.3||6.6
|-
| 2020
|17 643||27.4||65.0||7.6
|}

=== Structure of the population ===

{{Hidden begin 
|title= Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2013) (Excludes nomadic Indian tribes. Data refer to projections based on the 2010 Population Census.): <ref name="unstats.un.org">{{cite web|url=http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dyb2.htm |title=United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics |work=Unstats.un.org |access-date=20 December 2016}}</ref>
|titlestyle = background:#EEBC35;
}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! style="width:80pt;"|Age group
! style="width:80pt;"|Male
! style="width:80pt;"|Female
! style="width:80pt;"|Total
! style="width:80pt;"|%
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| Total
|| 7 815 935
|| 7 958 814
|| 15 774 749
|| 100
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 0–4
|| 864 669
|| 826 731
|| 1 691 400
|| 10.72
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 5–9
|| 854 691
|| 816 503
|| 1 671 194
|| 10.59
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 10–14
|| 815 838
|| 783 725
|| 1 599 563
|| 10.14
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 15–19
|| 756 376
|| 737 082
|| 1 493 458
|| 9.47
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 20–24
|| 685 997
|| 682 849
|| 1 368 846
|| 8.68
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 25–29
|| 620 881
|| 635 987
|| 1 256 868
|| 7.97
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 30–34
|| 559 055
|| 593 148
|| 1 152 203
|| 7.30
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 35–39
|| 495 340
|| 538 054
|| 1 033 394
|| 6.55
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 40–44
|| 437 744
|| 476 215
|| 913 959 
|| 5.79
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 45–49
|| 387 618
|| 419 090
|| 806 708
|| 5.11
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 50–54
|| 336 267
|| 360 935
|| 697 202
|| 4.42
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 55–59
|| 279 746
|| 298 503
|| 578 249
|| 3.67
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 60–64
|| 223 411
|| 238 973
|| 462 384
|| 2.93
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 65–69
|| 172 623
|| 187 448
|| 360 071
|| 2.28
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 70–74
|| 128 033
|| 142 255
|| 270 288
|| 1.71
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 75–79
|| 89 929
|| 101 191
|| 191 120
|| 1.21
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 80–84
|| 57 585
|| 64 467
|| 122 052
|| 0.77
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 85–89
|| 31 289
|| 34 891
|| 66 180
|| 0.42
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 90–94
|| 13 655
|| 15 370
|| 29 025
|| 0.18
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 95–99
|| 4 898
|| 5 145
|| 10 043
|| 0.06
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 100+
|| 290
|| 252
|| 542
|| 0.03
|- style="text-align:right;" 
! style="width:50px;"|Age group 
! style="width:80pt;"|Male
! style="width:80px;"|Female
! style="width:80px;"|Total
! style="width:50px;"|Percent
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 0–14
|| 2 535 198
|| 2 426 959
|| 4 962 157
|| 31.46
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 15–64
|| 4 782 435
|| 4 980 836
|| 9 763 271
|| 61.89
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 65+
|| 498 302
|| 551 019
|| 1 049 321
|| 6.65
|}
{{Hidden end}}

{{Hidden begin 
|title= Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.VII.2021) (Excludes nomadic Indian tribes.): <ref>{{Cite web |title=UNSD — Demographic and Social Statistics |url=https://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic-social/products/dyb/#statistics |access-date=2023-05-10 |website=unstats.un.org}}</ref>
|titlestyle = background:#EEBC35;
}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! width="80pt"|Age Group
! width="80pt"|Male
! width="80pt"|Female
! width="80pt"|Total
! width="80pt"|%
|-
| align="right" | Total
| align="right" | 8 783 789
| align="right" | 8 967 488 
| align="right" | 17 751 277
| align="right" | 100
|-
| align="right" | 0–4
| align="right" | 845 954
| align="right" | 808 798
| align="right" | 1 654 752
| align="right" | 9.32
|-
| align="right" | 5–9
| align="right" | 853 987 
| align="right" | 817 229
| align="right" | 1 671 216
| align="right" | 9.41
|-
| align="right" | 10–14
| align="right" | 861 741
| align="right" | 823 598
| align="right" | 1 685 339
| align="right" | 9.49
|-
| align="right" | 15–19
| align="right" | 833 964
| align="right" | 798 770 
| align="right" | 1 632 734
| align="right" | 9.20
|-
| align="right" | 20–24
| align="right" | 778 930
| align="right" | 755 659
| align="right" | 1 534 589
| align="right" | 8.64
|-
| align="right" | 25–29
| align="right" | 712 218 
| align="right" | 706 341 
| align="right" | 1 418 559 
| align="right" | 7.99
|-
| align="right" | 30–34
| align="right" | 647 958
| align="right" | 658 656
| align="right" | 1 306 614
| align="right" | 7.36
|-
| align="right" | 35–39
| align="right" | 590 249
| align="right" | 618 416 
| align="right" | 1 208 665
| align="right" | 6.81
|-
| align="right" | 40–44
| align="right" | 528 482
| align="right" | 571 807
| align="right" | 1 100 289
| align="right" | 6.20
|-
| align="right" | 45–49
| align="right" | 464 207
| align="right" | 509 979 
| align="right" | 974 186
| align="right" | 5.49
|-
| align="right" | 50–54
| align="right" | 406 015
| align="right" | 446 926
| align="right" | 852 941
| align="right" | 4.80
|-
| align="right" | 55–59
| align="right" | 350 539
| align="right" | 387 801
| align="right" | 738 340
| align="right" | 4.16
|-
| align="right" | 60–64
| align="right" | 290 143 
| align="right" | 324 072
| align="right" | 614 215
| align="right" | 3.46
|-
| align="right" | 65–69
| align="right" | 226 290
| align="right" | 257 338 
| align="right" | 483 628
| align="right" | 2.72
|-
| align="right" | 70–74
| align="right" | 165 840
| align="right" | 194 960
| align="right" | 360 800 
| align="right" | 2.03
|-
| align="right" | 75–79
| align="right" | 112 069
| align="right" | 138 213
| align="right" | 250 282
| align="right" | 1.41
|-
| align="right" | 80–84
| align="right" | 66 621
| align="right" | 85 696
| align="right" | 152 317
| align="right" | 0.86
|-
| align="right" | 85–89
| align="right" | 32 786
| align="right" | 42 792
| align="right" | 75 578
| align="right" | 0.43
|-
| align="right" | 90–94
| align="right" | 12 487
| align="right" | 16 097
| align="right" | 28 584
| align="right" | 0.16
|-
| align="right" | 95–99
| align="right" | 3 192
| align="right" | 4 184 
| align="right" | 7 376
| align="right" | 0.04
|-
| align="right" | 100+
| align="right" | 117
| align="right" | 156
| align="right" | 273 
| align="right" | <0.01
|-
! width="50"|Age group 
! width="80pt"|Male
! width="80"|Female
! width="80"|Total
! width="50"|Percent
|-
| align="right" | 0–14
| align="right" | 2 561 682
| align="right" | 2 449 625
| align="right" | 5 011 307
| align="right" | 28.23
|-
| align="right" | 15–64
| align="right" | 5 602 705
| align="right" | 5 778 427
| align="right" | 11 381 132
| align="right" | 64.11
|-
| align="right" | 65+
| align="right" | 619 402
| align="right" | 739 436
| align="right" | 1 358 838
| align="right" | 7.65
|-
|}
{{Hidden end}}

===Geography===
Due to the prevalence of [[malaria]] and [[yellow fever]] in the coastal region until the end of the 19th century, the Ecuadorian population was most heavily concentrated in the highlands and valleys of the "Sierra" region. Today's population is distributed more evenly between the "Sierra" and the "Costa" (the coastal lowlands) region. Migration towards the cities—particularly larger cities—in all regions has increased the urban population to about 55 percent.

The "Oriente" region, consisting of Amazonian lowlands to the east of the Andes and covering about half the country's land area, remains sparsely populated and contains only about 3% of the country's population, that for the most are indigenous peoples who maintain a wary distance from the recent Mestizo and white settlers. The territories of the "Oriente" are home to as many as nine indigenous groups: [[Quichua]], [[Shuar people|Shuar]], [[Achuar people|Achuar]], [[Huaorani|Waorani]], [[Siona people|Siona]], [[Siona people|Secoya]], [[Shiwiar]], and [[Cofán people|Cofan]], all represented politically by the [[CONFENIAE|Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon, CONFENIAE]].

As a result of the oil exploration and the development of the infrastructure required for the exploitation of the oil fields in the eastern jungles during the seventies and early eighties, there was a wave of settlement in the region. The Majority of these wave of internal immigration came from the southern province of Loja as a result of a drought that lasted three years and affected the southern provinces of the country. This boom of the petroleum industry has led to a mushrooming of the town of [[Lago Agrio]] ([[Nueva Loja]]) as well as substantial [[deforestation]] and pollution of wetlands and lakes.

==Vital statistics==
Registration of vital events is in [[Ecuador]] not complete. The Population Department of the United Nations prepared the following estimates.<ref name="WPP 2015"/>
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: right;"
|-
! rowspan=2|Period
! rowspan=2|Live births<br />per year
! rowspan=2|Deaths<br />per year
! rowspan=2|Natural change<br />per year
! rowspan=2|CBR*
! rowspan=2|CDR*
! rowspan=2|NC*
! rowspan=2|TFR*
! rowspan=2|IMR*
! colspan=3|Life expectancy
|-
! total
! males
! females
|-
| 1950–1955 || 169,000|| 71,000|| 98,000||45.6||19.2||26.4||6.75||140||48.4||47.1||49.6
|-
| 1955–1960 || 190,000|| 71,000|| 119,000||44.8||16.7||28.1||6.75||129||51.4||50.1||52.7
|-
| 1960–1965 || 214,000|| 71,000|| 143,000||43.6||14.5||29.1||6.65||119||54.7||53.4||56.1
|-
| 1965–1970 || 239,000|| 73,000|| 166,000||42.2||13.0||29.2||6.40||107||56.8||55.4||58.2
|-
| 1970–1975 || 258,000|| 74,000|| 184,000||39.6||11.4||28.2||5.80||95||58.9||57.4||60.5
|-
| 1975–1980 || 270,000|| 71,000|| 199,000||36.2||9.5||26.7||5.05||82||61.4||59.7||63.2
|-
| 1980–1985 || 285,000|| 68,000|| 217,000||33.5||8.0||25.5||4.45||69||64.5||62.5||66.7
|-
| 1985–1990 || 302,000|| 64,000|| 238,000||31.4||6.7||24.7||4.00||56||67.5||65.3||69.9
|-
| 1990–1995 || 311,000|| 63,000|| 248,000||28.7||5.8||22.9||3.55||44||70.1||67.6||72.7
|-
| 1995–2000 || 316,000|| 64,000|| 252,000||26.3||5.4||20.9||3.20||33||72.3||69.7||75.2
|-
| 2000–2005 || 313,000|| 68,000|| 245,000||24.2||5.1||19.1||2.94||25||74.2||71.3||77.3
|-
| 2005–2010 || 323,000|| 74,000|| 249,000||22.1||5.0||17.1||2.69||21||75.0||72.1||78.1
|-
| 2010–2015 || 329,000|| 80,000|| 249,000||21.0||5.1||15.9||2.56||17||76.4||73.6||79.3
|-
| 2015–2020 || 330,000|| 85,000|| 245,000||19.9||5.1||14.8||2.44||14||77.6||74.9||80.4
|-
| 2020–2025 || || || ||18.5||5.2||13.3||2.32||||||||
|-
| 2025–2030 || || || ||17.0||5.4||11.6||2.22||||||||
|-
| colspan="12" style="text-align:left; font-size:smaller;"| * CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)
|}

===Births and deaths===

{| class="wikitable sortable"  style="text-align: right;"
|-
! style="width:70px;"|Year
! style="width:70px;"|Population
! style="width:70px;"|Live births <ref>{{cite web |title=Población y Demografía |url=https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/category/poblacion-y-demografia/ |website=INEC |access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref>
! style="width:70px;"|Deaths
! style="width:70px;"|Natural increase
! style="width:70px;"|Crude birth rate
! style="width:70px;"|Crude death rate
! style="width:70px;"|Rate of natural increase
! style="width:70px;"|Crude migration rate
! style="width:70px;"|TFR
|- 
| 1990
| 10,149,666 
| 310,233
| style="color:blue;"| 50,217
| 260,016
| 30.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.9
| 25.7
|
| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1991
|| 10,355,598 
|| 312,007
|| 53,333
|| 258,674
|| 30.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 5.2
|| 24.9
| -5.0
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1992
|| 10,567,946 
|| 319,044
|| 53,430
|| 265,614
|| 30.2
|| 5.1
|| 25.1
| -5.0
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1993
|| 10,786,984 
|| 333,920
|| 52,453
|| 281,467
| style="color:blue;"|31.0
||  4.9
| style="color:blue;"|26.1
| -5.8
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1994
|| 11,012,925 
|| 318,063
|| 51,165
|| 266,898
|| 28.9
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.6
|| 24.3
| -3.8
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1995
|| 11,246,107 
|| 322,856
|| 50,867
|| 271,989
|| 28.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.5
|| 24.2
| -3.0
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1996
|| 11,486,884 
|| 335,194
|| 52,300
|| 282,894
|| 29.2
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.6
|| 24.6
| -3.2
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1997
|| 11,735,391 
|| 326,174
|| 52,089
|| 274,085
|| 27.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.4
|| 23.4
| -1.8
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1998
|| 11,992,073 
|| 316,779
|| 54,357
|| 262,422
|| 26.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.5
|| 21.9
| 0
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 1999
|| 12,257,190 
|| 353,159
|| 55,921
|| 297,238
|| 28.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.6
|| 24.2
| -2.1
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2000
|| 12,531,210 
| style="color:blue;"|356,065
|| 56,420
| style="color:blue;"|299,645
|| 28.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.5
|| 23.9
| -1.5
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2001
|| 12,814,503 
|| 341,710
|| 55,214
|| 286,496
|| 26.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.3
|| 22.4
| 0.2
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2002
|| 13,093,527 
|| 334,601
|| 55,549
|| 279,052
|| 25.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.2
|| 21.4
| 0.4
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2003
|| 13,319,575 
|| 322,227
|| 53,521
|| 268,706
|| 24.2
|  style="color:blue;"| 4.0
|| 20.2
| -2.9
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2004
|| 13,551,875 
|| 312,210
|| 54,729
|| 257,481
|| 23.0
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.0
|| 19.0
| -1.6
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2005
|| 13,721,297 
|| 305,302
|| 56,825
|| 248,477
|| 22.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 18.2
| -5.7
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2006
|| 13,964,606 
|| 322,030
|| 57,940
|| 264,090
|| 23.1
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 19.0
| -1.3
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2007
|| 14,214,982 
|| 322,494
|| 58,016
|| 264,478
|| 22.7
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 18.6
| -0.7
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2008
|| 14,472,881 
|| 325,423
|| 60,023
|| 265,400
|| 22.5
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 18.4
| -0.3
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2009
|| 14,738,472 
|| 332,859
|| 59,714
|| 273,145
|| 22.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 18.5
| -0.1
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2010
|| 15,012,228
|| 320,997
|| 61,681
|| 259,316
|| 21.4
|| 4.1
|| 17.3
| 1.3
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2011
|| 15,266,431
|| 329,061
|| 62,304
|| 266,757
|| 21.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 17.5
| -0.6
|| 2.74
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2012
|| 15,520,973
|| 319,127
|| 63,511
|| 255,616
|| 20.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 16.5
| 0.2
|| 2.68
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2013
|| 15,774,749
|| 294,441
|| 64,206
|| 230,235
|| 18.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 14.7
| 1.7
|| 2.63
|- style="text-align:right;" 
||2014
|| 16,027,466
|| 289,488
|| 63,788
|| 225,700
|| 18.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 14.2
| 1.8
|| 2.59
|- style="text-align:right;" 
||2015
|| 16,278,844
|| 289,561
|| 65,391
|| 222,158
|| 17.8
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.0
|| 13.8
| 1.9
|| 2.54
|- style="text-align:right;" 
||2016
|| 16,528,730
|| 274,643
|| 68,304
|| 203,786
|| 17.0
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.1
|| 12.9
| 2.5
|| 2.50
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2017
|| 16,776,977
|| 291,397
|| 70,144
|| 221,353
|| 17.4
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.2
|| 13.2
| 1.8
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2018
|| 17,023,408
|| 293,139
|| 71,982
|| 221,157
|| 17.3
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.2
|| 13.1
| 1.5
|| 
|- style="text-align:right;" 
|| 2019
|| 17,267,986
|| 285,827
|| 74,439
|| 211,388
|| 16.6
| style="text-align:right;"| 4.3
|| 12.3
| 1.9
|| 
|-  
| 2020
| 17,510,643
| 266,919
| style="color:red;"|117,200
| 149,719
| 15.2
|  style="color:red;"|6.7
| 8.5
| 5.4
|
|-  
| 2021
| 17,684,000
| 251,978
| 106,211
| style="color:red;"|145,767
| 14.2
| 5.9
| style="color:red;"|8.3
| 1.6
| 
|-  
| 2022
| 16,938,986 (c)
| 251,034
| 91,193
| 159,841
| 14.0
| 5.1
| 8.9
| -51.2
| 
|-  
| 2023
| 
| style="color:red;"| 238,772
| 87,733
| 151,039
| style="color:red;"| 13.2
| 4.9
| style="color:red;"| 8.3
| 
| 
|-  
| 2024
| 
| style="color:red;"| 
| 88,514
| 
| style="color:red;"| 
| 
| style="color:red;"| 
| 
| 1.7
|}
(c) = Census results.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Vital statistics for 2021 – 2022
|-
! Period
! Live births
! Deaths
! Natural increase
|-
| '''January - May 2023'''
| 
| 36,912
| 
|-
| '''January - April 2023'''
| 
| 32,860
| 
|-
| '''Difference'''
| 
| {{DecreasePositive}} -4,052 (-10.98%)
| 
|}

==Nationality, ethnicity, and race==
{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Ethnicity in Ecuador (2022)<ref name="censoecuador">{{cite web|date=21 September 2023|title=Ecuador: Censo de Población y Vivienda 2022|url= https://www.censoecuador.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/InfoNacionalDatos.pdf|website= censoecuador.gob.ec|accessdate= 22 May 2024}}</ref>
|label1 = [[Multiracial people|Multiracial]] 
|value1 = 86.62
|color1 = Grey
|label2 = [[Indigenous peoples in Ecuador|Amerindian]]
|value2 = 7.69
|color2 = Red
|label3 = [[Afro-Ecuadorians|Sub-Saharan]]
|value3 = 3.36
|color3 = Green
|label4 = [[White people|Caucasian]]
|value4 = 2.21
|color4 = Blue
|label5 = Others
|value5 = 0.12
|color5 = Black
}}
The Ecuadorian constitution recognizes the [[plurinationalism|pluri-nationality]] of those who want to exercise their affiliation with their native ethnic groups. There are five major ethnic groups in Ecuador: [[Mestizo]], [[White Latin American|European]], [[Afroecuatoriano|Afroecuadorian]], [[Indigenous peoples in Ecuador|Amerindian]], and Montubio. Mestizos constitute more than 85% of the population.<ref name="censoecuador"/> 
According to [[genealogical DNA test]]ing done in 2015, the average Ecuadorian is estimated to be 52.96% [[Indigenous peoples in Ecuador|Amerindian]], 41.77% [[Ethnic groups in Europe|European]], and 5.26% [[Sub-Saharan African]] overall.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Unravelling the hidden ancestry of American admixed populations|journal=Nature Communications|volume=6|pmc=4374169|doi=10.1038/ncomms7596|pmid=25803618|date=24 March 2015|at=See [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4374169/bin/ncomms7596-s2.xlsx Supplementary Data]|last1=Montinaro|first1=F.|last2=Busby|first2=G. B.|last3=Pascali|first3=V. L.|last4=Myers|first4=S.|last5=Hellenthal|first5=G.|last6=Capelli|first6=C.|bibcode=2015NatCo...6.6596M}}</ref> Prior to this, a genetic study done in 2008 by the [[University of Brasília]], estimated that Ecuadorian genetic admixture was 64.6% Amerindian, 31.0% European, and 4.4% African.<ref>{{cite thesis |last1=Godinho |first1=Neide Maria de Oliveira |title=O impacto das migrações na constituição genética de populações latino-americanas |date=2008 |url=https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/5542 |access-date=19 June 2023 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112044147/https://repositorio.unb.br/handle/10482/5542 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Ecuador]]'s population descends from [[History of ecuador#Spanish discovery and conquest|Spanish immigrants]] and [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|South American Amerindians]], admixed with descendants of black slaves who arrived to work on coastal plantations in the sixteenth century. The mix of these groups is described as [[Mestizo]] or [[Cholo]]. Censuses do not record ethnic affiliation, which in any event remains fluid; thus, estimates of the numbers of each group should be taken only as approximations. In the 1980s, Amerindians and Mestizos represented the bulk of the population, with each group accounting for roughly 40 percent of total population. Whites represented 10 to 15 percent and blacks the remaining 5 percent.<ref name=overview>{{csref|country=ecuador|section=Ethnic Groups|author=Patricia Kluck}}</ref>

According to Kluck, writing in 1989, ethnic groups in Ecuador have had a traditional hierarchy of white, [[Mestizo]], blacks, and then others.<ref name=whites>{{csref | country = ecuador| section = Whites and Mestizos| author  = Patricia Kluck}}</ref> Her review depicts this hierarchy as a consequence of colonial attitudes and of the terminology of colonial legal distinctions. Spanish-born persons residing in the New World (peninsulares) were at the top of the social hierarchy, followed by [[criollo people|criollos]], born of two Spanish parents in the colonies. The 19th century usage of Mestizo was to denote a person whose parents were an Amerindian and a white; a [[Cholo]] had one Amerindian and one Mestizo parent. By the 20th century, Mestizo and Cholo were frequently used interchangeably. Kluck suggested that societal relationships, occupation, manners, and clothing all derived from ethnic affiliation.<ref name=whites/>

Nonetheless, according to Kluck, individuals could potentially switch ethnic affiliation if they had culturally adapted to the recipient group; such switches were made without resort to subterfuge.<ref name=whites/> Moreover, the precise criteria for defining ethnic groups varies considerably. The vocabulary that more prosperous Mestizos and whites used in describing ethnic groups mixes social and biological characteristics. Ethnic affiliation thus is dynamic; Indians often become Mestizos, and prosperous Mestizos seek to improve their status sufficiently to be considered whites. Ethnic identity reflects numerous characteristics, only one of which is physical appearance; others include dress, language, community membership, and self-identification.<ref name=overview/>

A geography of ethnicity remained well-defined until the surge in migration that began in the 1950s. Whites resided primarily in larger cities. Mestizos lived in small towns scattered throughout the countryside. Indians formed the bulk of the Sierra rural populace, although Mestizos filled this role in the areas with few Indians. Most blacks lived in [[Esmeraldas Province]], with small enclaves found in the Carchi and Imbabura provinces. Pressure on Sierra land resources and the dissolution of the traditional hacienda, however, increased the numbers of Indians migrating to the Costa, the Oriente, and the cities. By the 1980s, Sierra Indians—or Indians in the process of switching their ethnic identity to that of Mestizos—lived on Costa plantations, in Quito, Guayaquil, and other cities, and in colonization areas in the Oriente and the Costa. Indeed, Sierra Amerindians residing in the coastal region substantially outnumbered the remaining original Costa inhabitants, the Cayapa and Colorado Indians. In the late 1980s, analysts estimated that there were only about 4,000 Cayapas and Colorados. Some blacks had migrated from the remote region of the Ecuadorian-Colombian border to the towns and cities of Esmeraldas.<ref name=overview/>

===Afro-Ecuadorian===
{{Main|Afro-Ecuadorian people}}
Afro-Ecuadorians are an [[ethnic group]] in Ecuador who are descendants of black African slaves brought by the Spanish during their conquest of Ecuador from the [[Inca]]s. They make up from 3% to 5% of Ecuador's population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ecuador/|title=The World Factbook|access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2010/06/ecuador_dreamto.html|title=FRONTLINE/WORLD . Rough Cut . Ecuador: Dreamtown – PBS|website=[[PBS]]|access-date=29 March 2015}}</ref>

Ecuador has a population of about 1,120,000 descendants from African people. The Afro-Ecuadorian culture is found primarily in the country's northwest coastal region. Africans form a majority (70%) in the province of [[Esmeraldas Province|Esmeraldas]] and also have an important concentration in the [[Valle del Chota]] in the [[Imbabura Province]]. They can be also found in important numbers in [[Quito]] and [[Guayaquil]].

=== Indigenous ===
{{Main|Indigenous peoples in Ecuador}}

====Sierra Indigenous====
[[File:EquateurOtavalo 0606.jpg|thumb|left|[[Otavalo people|Otavalo]] girl from Ecuador]]
Sierra Indigenous had an estimated population of 1.5 to 2 million in the early 1980s and live in the intermontane valleys of the Andes. Prolonged contact with Hispanic culture, which dates back to the conquest, has had a homogenizing effect, reducing the variation among the indigenous Sierra tribes.<ref name=sierra>{{csref
| country = ecuador
| section = Sierra Indigenous
| author  = Patricia Kluck
}}</ref>

The Indigenous people of the Sierra are separated from whites and Mestizos by a caste-like gulf. They are marked as a disadvantaged group; to be an Indigenous person in Ecuador is to be stigmatized. Poverty rates are higher and literacy rates are lower among Indigenous than the general population. They enjoy limited participation in national institutions and are often excluded from social and economic opportunities available to more privileged groups. However, some groups of Indigenous, such as the [[Otavalo people]], have increased their socioeconomic status to extent that they enjoy a higher standard of living than many other Indigenous groups in Ecuador and many [[Mestizo]]s of their area.

Visible markers of ethnic affiliation, especially hairstyle, dress, and language, separate Indigenous from the rest of the populace. Indigenous wore more manufactured items by the late 1970s than previously; their clothing, nonetheless, was distinct from that of other rural inhabitants. Indigenous in communities relying extensively on wage labor sometimes assumed Western-style dress while still maintaining their Indigenous identity. Indigenous speak Spanish and, Quichua—a Quechua dialect—although most are bilingual, speaking Spanish as a second language with varying degrees of facility. By the late 1980s, some younger Indigenous no longer learned Quichua.<ref name=sierra/>

====Oriente Indigenous====
[[File:Huaorani village.jpg|left|thumb| [[Huaorani|Waorani]] village]]
Although the Amerindians of the Oriente first came into contact with Europeans in the 16th century, the encounters were more sporadic than those of most of the country's indigenous population. Until the 19th century, most non-Amerindians entering the region were either traders or missionaries. Beginning in the 1950s, however, the government built roads and encouraged settlers from the Sierra to colonize the Amazon River Basin. Virtually all remaining Indians were brought into increasing contact with national society. The interaction between Indians and outsiders had a profound impact on the indigenous way of life.<ref name=oriente>{{csref
| country = ecuador
| section = Oriente Indigenous
| author  = Patricia Kluck
}}</ref>

In the late 1970s, roughly 30,000 Quichua speakers and 15,000 Jívaros lived in Oriente Indigenous communities. Quichua speakers (sometimes referred to as the Yumbos) grew out of the [[detribalization]] of members of many different groups after the Spanish conquest. Subject to the influence of Quichua-speaking missionaries and traders, various elements of the Yumbos adopted the tongue as a lingua franca and gradually lost their previous languages and tribal origins. Yumbos were scattered throughout the Oriente, whereas the Jívaros—subdivided into the Shuar and the Achuar—were concentrated in southeastern Ecuador. Some also lived in northeastern Peru. Traditionally, both groups relied on migration to resolve intracommunity conflict and to limit the ecological damage to the tropical forest caused by [[slash-and-burn]] agriculture.<ref name=oriente/>

Both the Yumbos and the Jívaros depended on agriculture as their primary means of subsistence. [[Manioc]], the main staple, was grown in conjunction with a wide variety of other fruits and vegetables. Yumbo men also resorted to wage labor to obtain cash for the few purchases deemed necessary. By the mid-1970s, increasing numbers of Quichua speakers settled around some of the towns and missions of the Oriente. Indians themselves had begun to make a distinction between Christian and jungle Indians. The former engaged in trade with townspeople. The Jívaros, in contrast to the Christian Quichua speakers, lived in more remote areas. Their mode of horticulture was similar to that of the non-Christian Yumbos, although they supplemented crop production with hunting and some livestock raising.<ref name=oriente/>

Shamans ([[curandero]]s) played a pivotal role in social relations in both groups. As the main leaders and the focus of local conflicts, shamans were believed to both cure and kill through magical means. In the 1980s group conflicts between rival shamans still erupted into full-scale feuds with loss of life.<ref name=oriente/>

The Oriente Indigenous population dropped precipitously during the initial period of intensive contact with outsiders. The destruction of their crops by Mestizos laying claim to indigenous lands, the rapid exposure to diseases to which Indians lacked immunity, and the extreme social disorganization all contributed to increased mortality and decreased birth rates. One study of the Shuar in the 1950s found that the group between ten and nineteen years of age was smaller than expected. This was the group that had been youngest and most vulnerable during the initial contact with national society. Normal population growth rates began to reestablish themselves after approximately the first decade of such contact.<ref name=oriente/>

==Culture==
[[File:Ecuadorian dress, Carnival del Pueblo 2010, London.jpg|200px|thumb|upright|A woman in Ecuadorian garment participating in the 2010 Carnaval del Pueblo]]
{{Main|Culture of Ecuador}}

Ecuador's mainstream culture is defined by its Hispanic [[Mestizo]] majority, and like their ancestry, it is traditionally of Spanish heritage, influenced in different degrees by Amerindian traditions, and in some cases by African elements. The first and most substantial wave of modern immigration to Ecuador consisted of Spanish colonists, following the arrival of Europeans in 1499. A lower number of other Europeans and North Americans migrated to the country in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and in smaller numbers, Poles, Lithuanians, English, Irish, and Croats during and after the Second World War.

Since African slavery was not the workforce of the Spanish colonies in the Andes Mountains of South America, given the subjugation of the indigenous people through evangelism and ''[[encomiendas]]'', the minority population of African descent is mostly found in the coastal northern province of Esmeraldas. According to local fables, this is largely owing to the 17th century shipwreck of a slave-trading galleon off the northern coast of Ecuador.

Ecuador's indigenous communities are integrated into the mainstream culture to varying degrees,<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.south-images.com/photos-andes-ecuador.htm| title = South-images.com| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080502041028/http://www.south-images.com/photos-andes-ecuador.htm| archive-date = 2 May 2008}} ''Photos Indigenous people of Ecuador''</ref> but some may also practice their own indigenous cultures, particularly the more remote indigenous communities of the [[Amazon basin]]. Spanish is spoken as the first language by more than 90% of the population, and as a first or second language by more than 98%. Part of Ecuador's population can speak [[Amerindian]] languages, in some cases as a second language. Two percent of the population speak only Amerindian languages.

==Language==
Most Ecuadorians speak Spanish,<ref name="CIAPAPUANEWGUI1NEA">{{cite web|url= https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/papua-new-guinea/|title= Central America and Caribbean :: PAPUA NEW GUINEA|publisher= CIA The World Factbook|access-date= August 9, 2016|df= mdy-all}}</ref> though many speak Amerindian languages such as [[Kichwa]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ecuanex.net.ec/constitucion/titulo01.html|title=Constitución Política de la República del Ecuador|access-date=September 13, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017035841/http://www.ecuanex.net.ec/constitucion/titulo01.html|archive-date=October 17, 2015|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> People that identify as Mestizo, in general, speak Spanish as their native language. Other Amerindian languages spoken in Ecuador include Awapit (spoken by the Awá), A'ingae (spoken by the Cofan), Shuar Chicham (spoken by the Shuar), Achuar-Shiwiar (spoken by the Achuar and the Shiwiar), Cha'palaachi (spoken by the Chachi), Tsa'fiki (spoken by the Tsáchila), Paicoca (spoken by the Siona and Secoya), and Wao Tededeo (spoken by the Waorani). Though most features of Ecuadorian Spanish are those universal to the Spanish-speaking world, there are several idiosyncrasies.

==Religion==
{{Main|Religion in Ecuador}}
According to the Ecuadorian National Institute of Statistics and Census, 91.95% of the country's population have a religion, 7.94% are [[Atheism|atheists]] and 0.11% are agnostics. Among those with a religion, 80.44% are [[Roman Catholic]], 11.30% are [[Protestants]], and 8.26% other (mainly Jewish, Buddhists and Latter-day Saints).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lahora.com.ec/index.php/noticias/show/1101377532/-1/El_80%25_de_ecuatorianos_es_cat%C3%B3lico.html#.UGyc6k3LQ5w|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811033609/http://www.lahora.com.ec/index.php/noticias/show/1101377532/-1/El_80%25_De_ecuatorianos_es_cat%C3%B3lico.html#.UGyc6k3LQ5w|title=El 80% de ecuatorianos es católico|archive-date=11 August 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eluniverso.com/2012/08/15/1/1382/80-ecuatorianos-afirma-ser-catolico-segun-inec.html|title=El 80% de los ecuatorianos afirma ser católico, según el INEC|date=15 August 2012|website=El Universo}}</ref>

In the rural parts of Ecuador, indigenous beliefs and Catholicism are sometimes [[syncretism|syncretized]]. Most festivals and annual parades are based on religious celebrations, many incorporating a mixture of rites and icons.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gmGADAAAQBAJ&q=Ecuador%2C+indigenous+beliefs+and+Catholicism+are+sometimes+syncretized&pg=PA136|title=Latin American Business Cultures|last1=Crane|first1=R.|last2=Rizowy|first2=C.|date=2010-12-08|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780230299108|pages=136|language=en}}</ref>

There is a small number of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox Christians]], indigenous religions, Muslims (see [[Islam in Ecuador]]), [[Buddhist]]s and [[Baháʼí Faith|Baháʼís]]. There are about 185,000 members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church),<ref>[https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/ecuador "Ecuador: Facts and Statistics"], ''[[Church News]]'', 2020. Retrieved on 27 March 2020.</ref> and over 80,000 [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] in the country.<ref>{{cite book|title=2015 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses|publisher=Watch Tower Society|page=180}}</ref>

The "Jewish Community of Ecuador" (Comunidad Judía del Ecuador) has its seat in [[Quito]] and has approximately 300 members. Nevertheless, this number is declining because young people leave the country towards the United States of America or Israel.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cje-ec.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220125124/http://www.cje-ec.com/inter.asp?s=2&id=e%2F|title=Tokyo Isea Clinic – At Tokyo Isea Clinic, we conduct courteous counseling and consultation first, prior to plastic surgery|archive-date=20 February 2012}}</ref> The Community has a Jewish Center with a synagogue, a country club and a cemetery. It supports the "Albert Einstein School", where Jewish history, religion and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] classes are offered. Since 2004, there has also been a [[Chabad house]] in Quito.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jabad.org.ec/texto1.php?id_submenu1=139&id_menu=36%2F|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719133950/http://www.jabad.org.ec/texto1.php?id_submenu1=139&id_menu=36%2F|url-status=dead|title=Beit Jabad del Ecuador|date=19 July 2011|archivedate=19 July 2011|access-date=10 May 2023}}</ref>

There are very small communities in [[Cuenca (Ecuador)|Cuenca]] and [[Ambato, Ecuador|Ambato]]. The "Comunidad de Culto Israelita" reunites the Jews of [[Guayaquil]]. This community works independently from the "Jewish Community of Ecuador".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.congresojudio.org.ar/comunidades.asp?id=ecuador/|title=Congreso Judío Latinoamericano|trans-title=Latin American Jewish Congress|language=es|work=congresojudio.org.ar}}{{Dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> Jewish visitors to Ecuador can also take advantage of Jewish resources as they travel<ref>[http://travelingrabbi.com/countries/south-america/ecuador Traveling Rabbi Guide to Ecuador]. Travelingrabbi.com (16 August 2012). Retrieved on 2012-08-21.</ref> and keep [[kosher]] there, even in the [[Amazon Rainforest]].<ref>[http://travelingrabbi.com/jewish-travel/keeping-kosher-in-the-amazon-rainforest/index.html Keeping Kosher in the Amazon Rainforest]. Travelingrabbi.com (4 May 2011). Retrieved on 2012-08-21.</ref> The city has also synagogue of [[Messianic Judaism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mishkanyeshua.com/|title=Kehilá Mishkán Yeshúa|language=es|publisher=mishkanyeshua.com|access-date=29 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214195547/http://www.mishkanyeshua.com/|archive-date=14 December 2007}}</ref>

==Migration trends==
{{See also|1998–1999 Ecuador economic crisis}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2010}}

In recent decades, there has been a high rate of emigration due to the [[1998–99 Ecuador banking crisis|economic crisis]] that seriously affected the economy of the country in the 1990s, over 400,000 Ecuadorians left for [[Ecuadorians in Spain|Spain]] and [[Italy]], and around 100,000 for the [[Ecuadorians in the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] while several hundred thousand Ecuadorians live in the US, (500,000 by some estimates) mostly in the cities of the Northeastern corridor. Many other Ecuadorians have emigrated across Latin America, thousands have gone to Japan and Australia. One famous American of [[Ecuadorian American|Ecuadorian]] descent is pop music vocalist [[Christina Aguilera]].

In Ecuador there are about 100,000 Americans and over 30,000 [[European Union]] expatriates. They move to Ecuador for business opportunities and as cheaper place for retirement.

As a result of the political conflict in [[Colombia]] and of the criminal gangs that had appeared in the areas of power vacuum a constant flow of refugees and asylum seekers as well as economic migrants of [[Colombian people|Colombian origin]] had moved into Ecuadorian territory. Over the last decade at least 45,000 displaced people are now residents in Ecuador, the Ecuadorian government and international organizations are assisting them. According to the [[UNHCR]] 2009 report as many as 167,189 [[refugee]]s and [[asylum seekers]] are temporary residents in Ecuador.<ref>{{cite web|format=ZIP |url=http://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends/2009-Global-Tends-annex.zip |title=Table 1. Refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees (refugees and IDPs), stateless persons, and others of concern to UNHCR by country/territory of asylum, end-2009 |work=[[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees|UNHCR]] |date=2009 |access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref>

Following the migratory trend to Europe many of the jobs that those that left held in the country had been taken over by Peruvian [[economic migrants]]. Those jobs are mostly in agriculture and unskilled labor. There are no official statistics but some press reports estimate their number into the tens of thousands.

There is a diverse community of [[Middle Eastern peoples|Middle Eastern]] Ecuadorians, numbering in the tens of thousands, mostly from [[Lebanese people|Lebanese]], [[Syrians|Syrian]] and [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] descent; prominent in commerce and industry, and concentrated in the coastal cities of [[Guayaquil]], [[Quevedo, Ecuador|Quevedo]] and [[Machala]]. They are well assimilated into the local culture and are referred commonly as "[[Turkish people|turcos]]" since the early migrants of these communities arrived with passports issued by the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the beginning of the century.<ref>See also: [[Lebanese Ecuadorians]]</ref>

Ecuador is also home to communities of [[Spaniards]], Italians, [[Germans]], [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]], French, [[British people|Britons]] and [[Greeks|Greek]]-Ecuadorians. Ecuadorian [[Jews]], who number around 450 are mostly of German or Italian descent. There are 225,000 English speakers and 112,000 German speakers in Ecuador of which the great majority reside in [[Quito]], mainly all descendants of immigrants who arrived in the late 19th century and of retired emigrees that returned to their terroir. Most of the descendants of European immigrants strive for the preservation of their heritage. Therefore, some groups even have their own schools (e.g. [[German School Guayaquil]] and German School Quito), Liceé La Condamine (French Heritage), Alberto Einstein (Jewish Heritage) and [[The British School of Quito]] (Anglo-British), cultural and social organizations, churches and country clubs. Their contribution for the social, political and economical development of the country is immense, specially in relation to their percentage in the total population. Most of the families of European heritage belong to the Ecuadorian upper class and had married into the wealthiest families of the country.

There is also a small Asian-Ecuadorian (see [[Asian Latino]]) community estimated in a range from 2,500 to 25,000, mainly consists of those having any amount of [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]] [[Han Chinese|Han]] descent, and possibly 10,000 being [[Japanese diaspora|Japanese]] whose ancestors arrived as miners, farm hands and fishermen in the late 19th century. [[Guayaquil]] has an [[East Asian]] community, mostly Chinese including Taiwanese, and Japanese, as well as a [[Southeast Asian]] community, mostly Filipinos.

==See also==
* [[Ecuadorian census]]
* [[Indigenous peoples in Ecuador]]
* [[Afro Ecuadorian]]
* [[Lebanese people in Ecuador]]
* [[Culture of Ecuador]]
* [[Social class in Ecuador]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170421203948/http://ecuador.ukrnetia.com/ Family in Ecuador] 
* [[Ecuadorian Americans]]
* [[Hispanics]]
* [[Music of Ecuador]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.unhcr.org/globaltrends/2009-Global-Tends-annex.zip]
* [http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/GALLERY/10259_29_08_13_10_18_53.png Leading ethnicity map in Ecuador by 2010 census]

{{Ecuador topics}}
{{Ethnic groups in Ecuador}}
{{South America in topic|Demographics of}}
{{Population country lists}}

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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demographics of Ecuador}}
[[Category:Demographics of Ecuador]]
[[Category:South American people by nationality]]
[[Category:Demographics of South America|Ecuador]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Ecuador| ]]