8 Billion Lives
Be born

Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / South America

Born in Ecuador

About 1 in 489 people born in 2023 started life in Ecuador. A boy can expect to live 75 years and a girl 80, up from 47 and 50 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 92% have basic drinking water.

1 in 489
odds of being born here
270,300 births · Ranked 75th of 230
75 / 80
years of life, boys / girls
Was 47 / 50 in 1950
$6,436
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 106th of 203 · extrapolated
63%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 29 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 220 in every 1,000 births to 12.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth74.7 years for boys, 80.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 511.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year92,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people2.3World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles74%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year59 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year0 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.7 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.8, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.82UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.4 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 51 and the poorest fifth 5.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2025
5%Poorest fifth
9%Second
14%Middle
21%Fourth
51%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $6,436 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth51% / 5% (2025)World Bank PIP
Unemployment3.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises2.2% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person0.9% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming30% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed52% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment93% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Quito, with 2.8 million people.

63%
live in cities
99%
have electricity at home
92%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Quito2.8 million
Guayaquil2.7 million
Cuenca636,996
Santo Domingo de los Colorados458,580
Ambato387,309
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Spanish96%
Quechua17%
Chimborazo Highland Quichua6%
Spanish, Quechua is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Guayas3.7 million
Pichincha2.9 million
Manabí754,712
Azuay654,118
El Oro485,190
Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas458,580
Tungurahua Province403,881
Los Ríos395,174
Loja309,539
Esmeraldas281,057

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 23 regions
  • Guayas3.7 million
  • Pichincha2.9 million
  • Manabí754,712
  • Azuay654,118
  • El Oro485,190
  • Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas458,580
  • Tungurahua Province403,881
  • Los Ríos395,174
  • Loja309,539
  • Esmeraldas281,057
  • Imbabura270,935
  • Chimborazo Province264,048
  • Cotopaxi238,242
  • Carchi86,498
  • Santa Elena86,076
  • Canar71,230
  • Orellana Province68,457
  • Pastaza Province24,881
  • Sucumbíos24,211
  • Morona-Santiago Province23,687
  • Bolívar22,199
  • Napo17,172
  • Zamora Chinchipe15,276

People on the move

About 6.8% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Spain, Italy.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States561,895
Spain432,111
Italy76,883
Residents born abroad4.1% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 6.8% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (561,895), Spain (432,111), Italy (76,883)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $7.7 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

66% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 4%.

66%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
4%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202436,050Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 195018; the deadliest, in 1987, killed about 5,000 people (magnitude 7.2)NOAA NCEI
Deaths in organized violence1,356 between 2003 and 2024UCDP

Now live it.

Born in Ecuador, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Ecuador

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences