Ecuador Economy Grew 2% in the First Half, With Services and Manufacturing Leading

Ecuador's economy grew 2% year over year in the first half of 2026, according to Central Bank data reported by Primicias on August 23, 2026. The result is positive in aggregate, but the composition is uneven: services, manufacturing, construction, and commerce expanded while petroleum, mining, and primary production contracted.

Growth is concentrated in domestic activity

The Central Bank reported the 2% accumulated growth for January through June, compared with the same period of 2025. The largest sector contributions came from services at 2.6%, manufacturing at 3.8%, construction at 3.4%, and commerce at 2.1%.

The monthly activity indicator, IMAEc, also grew 2.2% year over year in June. The report links that performance to the same group of sectors, suggesting that the first-half result was not only a single-month effect.

For operators, the useful distinction is between broad growth and sector exposure. A company tied to services, construction, or domestic commerce may be operating in a different demand environment from one tied to petroleum, mining, agriculture, or export fisheries.

Credit and electricity were part of the services signal

The Central Bank attributed the June services performance partly to higher electricity generation and greater credit activity in productive, consumer, microcredit, and real-estate segments. That does not mean every borrower or project is receiving easier credit; it indicates that those channels contributed to the measured activity.

Commerce grew 4% compared with June 2025 and contributed 0.6 percentage points. The report associates that result with stronger sales of cars and fuels. Manufacturing grew 4.2%, while construction grew 3.9% year over year during June.

Those monthly figures are stronger than the accumulated first-half sector rates, so analysts should avoid treating them as a full-year forecast. They are a current-activity signal with a base-period comparison.

The weak sectors matter

Petroleum and mining contracted 3.4%, driven mainly by lower national crude production and a reduction in mining-export volume. Agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fishing declined 1.5%, amid lower exported volumes of cacao, bananas, and fishing and aquaculture products.

The split creates a more useful picture than the headline growth rate alone. Ecuador is expanding in several domestic and industrial activities while its extractive and primary-export base remains under pressure. That matters for portfolio construction and operating plans because the same national growth rate can produce very different outcomes for a consumer business, a construction supplier, an oil-linked operator, or an agricultural exporter. Sector selection remains the key analytical step.

What to watch

1. Whether service and construction growth persists beyond the June comparison.
2. Whether credit growth translates into durable investment rather than only short-term activity.
3. Whether petroleum, mining, and agricultural export volumes stabilize.
4. Whether the second-half economy keeps the same sector mix.

The conclusion for decision-makers is straightforward: Ecuador is growing, but the growth is not evenly distributed across sectors or business models.

Source: Primicias