Ecuador Population
Ecuador had an estimated population of 18,289,896 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 70th most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.22% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +0.85% a year.
Ecuador at a glance
How Ecuador's population is changing
Ecuador's population is growing: +0.85% a year, which works out to about +155,074 people per year, or +425 a day. Births (14.8 per 1,000) and deaths (5.2 per 1,000) alone would give +0.96% a year; net migration removes about 17,219 people a year (−0.09%). Roughly one in every 449 people on Earth lives in Ecuador.
Population of Ecuador since 1960
In 1960, Ecuador had 4,590,891 people. By 2025 that was 18,289,896 — 4.0× larger. The fastest growth came between 1963 and 1973, when the population rose by 34%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 4,590,891 | — |
| 1970 | 6,155,387 | +34.1% |
| 1980 | 8,165,877 | +32.7% |
| 1990 | 10,473,673 | +28.3% |
| 2000 | 12,689,206 | +21.2% |
| 2010 | 15,076,695 | +18.8% |
| 2020 | 17,546,065 | +16.4% |
| 2025 | 18,289,896 | +4.2% |
Ecuador from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Ecuador at about 500,000 people in 1800; the UN estimates 18,289,898 in 2025 (37× 1800) and projects 19,092,166 for 2100 in its medium scenario. The population is projected to peak around 2063 at 21,740,226 and decline afterwards.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 500,000 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 813,456 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 1,451,333 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 3,516,791 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 12,689,215 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 18,289,898 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 21,337,230 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 21,404,280 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 19,092,166 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Ecuador
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 18,289,896. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guayaquil | 3,157,825 | UN urban centre | 17.27% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Quito | 2,534,914 | UN urban centre | 13.86% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Cuenca | 482,272 | UN urban centre | 2.64% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 4 | Santo Domingo de los Colorados | 458,580 | GeoNames settlement | 2.51% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 5 | Eloy Alfaro | 315,724 | GeoNames settlement | 1.73% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 6 | Manta | 287,756 | UN urban centre | 1.57% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 7 | Ambato | 274,672 | UN urban centre | 1.50% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 8 | Loja | 274,112 | GeoNames settlement | 1.50% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 9 | Machala | 260,690 | UN urban centre | 1.43% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 10 | Portoviejo | 228,823 | UN urban centre | 1.25% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
How Ecuador compares
Ecuador has almost the same population as Netherlands (18,087,633).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Ecuador | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #68 |  Senegal | 18,931,966 | +4% | compare → |
| #69 |  Guatemala | 18,687,881 | +2% | compare → |
| #71 |  Netherlands | 18,087,633 | −1% | compare → |
| #72 |  Cambodia | 17,847,982 | −2% | compare → |
Compare Ecuador with any country →
Same region (Latin America & Caribbean): Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela.
Explore around Ecuador
Land neighbours (2)
Ecuador's 2 neighbours together hold 88,002,300 people — 4.8× Ecuador's population. The most populous is Colombia (53,425,635).
In its region
Ecuador is the 9th most populous of the 42 economies in Latin America & Caribbean, holding 2.7% of the region's 666,592,570 people.
Rankings
Largest countries, fastest-growing, oldest populations, densest — all rankings.
Cities
Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, Santo Domingo de los Colorados, Eloy Alfaro, Manta, Ambato, Loja — all Ecuador's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Ecuador when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.