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Country Snapshot - Ecuador  

HighlightsRankingsQuantitative DataLegislationAnalytical WorkProject Portfolio
  • Latin America & Caribbean
  • Lower middle income
  • 13,774,909 (2011)
  • 4,510
Ecuador Flag
Below are select highlights for the data included in the profile.

  1. Ecuador’s overall Doing Business ranking has declined this year, reflecting lower scores for six indicator. However, the ranking improved in Starting a Business, where the country made it easier by introducing an online registration system for social security.
  2. According to the latest Enterprise Surveys (2010), the top three constraints to investment in Ecuador are Political Instability, Access to Finance, and Practices of the Informal Sector. The survey reports that 48% of the local firms surveyed have a line of credit or loan from a financial institution, which is close to the regional average (48%). Among the firms surveyed, 65% of them report competing with unregistered or informal firms.
  3. Of the 33 sectors covered by the Investing Across Sectors indicators, 28 are fully open to foreign equity ownership in Ecuador. While the manufacturing and primary industries are fully open to foreign investors, the country imposes ownership restrictions on a number of service sectors. There are no restrictions on foreign ownership in privately owned companies. However, prior consent must be obtained from the Electricity Authority. Notably, it takes 16 procedures and 68 days to start a foreign-owned limited liability company (LLC) in Ecuador (Quito). The process is slightly shorter than the regional average for Latin America and the Caribbean and longer than the IAB global average.