The Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) presented the results of the quarterly national accounts, corresponding to the third quarter of 2023, which for the first time use the new methodology of the current base, which considers 2018 as the reference year.

According to the entity, with this methodological innovation comes a constant improvement in statistical production, “to provide the country with updated figures that more accurately reflect the production structure and economic development of the Ecuadorian economy.”

The figures are published both at the level of their original series and their seasonally adjusted series.

In the third quarter of 2023, the Ecuadorian economy recorded a growth of 0.4% compared to the same quarter of 2022. This behavior was driven by an increase in exports by 7.3% and government spending by 5.1%.

On the other hand, household consumption shows a negative year-on-year variation of 4.7%, due to a decrease in demand for products such as vehicles, textiles, clothing and dairy products.

Similarly, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) showed a decline of 5.6%, which was linked to a contraction in the construction sector and lower demand for capital goods for agriculture and transport equipment. Finally, imports recorded a year-on-year decrease of 14.1%, which is explained by the drop in external procurement of raw materials and raw materials for industry and agriculture.

At the industry level, only 9 out of 20 sectors reported a positive year-over-year performance during the third quarter of 2023. Among the activities that showed higher year-over-year growth were:

Quarterly, Ecuador’s economy experienced a 1.3% contraction compared to the previous quarter. This result is mainly explained by the decrease in household consumption by 3.2% and gross investment in fixed capital by 8.7%. In relation to the external sector, exports recorded a growth of 3.4%, i.e. imports of 3.2%.

Before presenting the results, the ECB reported that over the past six years it has worked to update the methodology of the annual and quarterly national accounts, in order to implement best practice and international standards in statistical matters. It received technical assistance from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to modernize the methodology. This work will enable the replacement of the fixed base with a mobile base, which will include a wider source of statistical indicators and reflect the latest production and cost structure of the country.