Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Ecuador
Ecuador: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income was 18.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Ecuador, 1994–2025
Source: World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ. Measured in %.
Analysis
Ecuador recorded 18.1% for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 17.7% on the previous year and down 4.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Ecuador peaked at 23.0% in 1999 and was at its lowest, 18.1%, in 2025.
Ecuador ranks 20th of 123 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Ecuador, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 21.1% | — |
| 1999 | 23.0% | +9.0% |
| 2000 | 22.3% | -3.0% |
| 2003 | 22.4% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 22.2% | -0.9% |
| 2005 | 22.9% | +3.2% |
| 2006 | 21.1% | -7.9% |
| 2007 | 21.0% | -0.5% |
| 2008 | 21.4% | +1.9% |
| 2009 | 20.0% | -6.5% |
| 2010 | 20.2% | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 19.6% | -3.0% |
| 2012 | 21.2% | +8.2% |
| 2013 | 19.6% | -7.5% |
| 2014 | 18.7% | -4.6% |
| 2015 | 19.0% | +1.6% |
| 2016 | 18.5% | -2.6% |
| 2017 | 19.1% | +3.2% |
| 2018 | 19.2% | +0.5% |
| 2019 | 20.3% | +5.7% |
| 2020 | 20.1% | -1.0% |
| 2021 | 18.4% | -8.5% |
| 2022 | 19.8% | +7.6% |
| 2023 | 19.0% | -4.0% |
| 2024 | 22.0% | +15.8% |
| 2025 | 18.1% | -17.7% |
Ecuador compared with similar countries
- Ecuador's 18.1% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 14.8%, 1.2× the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Ecuador's 18.1% is above the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 18.0%, 1.0× the median. (20 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 22.1% | 21.1% | 23.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 21.7% | 20.0% | 22.9% | 8 |
| 2010s | 19.5% | 18.5% | 21.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 19.6% | 18.1% | 22.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Ecuador
More poverty & inequality data for Ecuador
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via the World Bank 10 surveys (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per person (2025)
- Number of income/consumption surveys in the past decade available via 0 surveys per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Fertility rate vs. share living in extreme poverty 1.82 live births per woman (2023)
- Cereal yield vs. share in extreme poverty 4,007 kg per hectare (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Cereal yield vs extreme poverty, annual growth rate -0.4522 % change on previous year (2024)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, gaps filled 15.13 (2022)
- Tax revenue as share of GDP vs. income inequality 15.1% (2022)
- Tax revenues vs income inequality, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2022)
Frequently asked questions
- What is proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Ecuador?
- Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income in Ecuador was 18.1% in 2025, according to World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ.
- What is the highest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Ecuador?
- The highest recorded value was 23.0% in 1999.
- What is the lowest proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income recorded in Ecuador?
- The lowest recorded value was 18.1% in 2025.
- How does Ecuador rank for proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income?
- Ecuador ranks 20th out of 123 countries with data for 2025.
- Is proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income rising or falling in Ecuador?
- Over the last ten years it is down 4.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Ecuador data come from?
- The figures come from World Bank, Poverty and Inequality Platform. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income econ, published as part of Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
The percentage of people in the population who live in households whose per capita income or consumption is below half of the median income or consumption per capita. The median is measured at 2021 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) using the Poverty and Inequality Platform (http://www.pip.worldbank.org). For some countries, medians are not reported due to grouped and/or confidential data. The reference year is the year in which the underlying household survey data was collected. In cases for which the data collection period bridged two calendar years, the first year in which data were collected is reported.