Ecuador population pyramid 2026
Latin America and the Caribbean · South America
18,444,506 people in 2026 (projected). Ecuador’s pyramid now narrows at the base: the widest band in 2026 is ages 15–19, and each younger band is smaller as fertility settles near 1.8.
- 2026 population
- 18.4Mrank 72 of 237
- Median age
- 29.7 yearsoldest rank 137
- Fertility rate
- 1.78births per woman · below replacement
- Structure
- Transitional8.9% age 65+
Ecuador population pyramid
2026 · Share of total by five-year age group and sex
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The UN series provides historical estimates through 2023. Figures from 2024 onward—including 2026—are medium-scenario projections, not counts or predictions guaranteed to occur.
Ecuador age distribution in 2026
Children under 15 account for 23.3% of the population, while 8.9% are aged 65 or older. The remaining 67.8% are in the conventional working-age range of 15–64. On these shares, the site classifies Ecuador’s age structure as transitional; the guide to population pyramid types explains what that shape implies.
The total age dependency ratio is 47.5: about 48 people under 15 or 65+ for every 100 people aged 15–64 (34.4 children and 13.1 older people). This is an age-balance indicator, not a literal count of economic dependants per worker.
What shapes Ecuador’s population pyramid
A turning point around 2010
For most of the twentieth century Ecuador’s pyramid was a broad triangle. The total fertility rate was close to 6.7 children per woman in 1950 and 1960, and the 0–4 band was the widest in every pyramid up to 2000. Fertility then fell quickly, from about 4.7 in 1980 to 3.1 in 2000 and 2.6 in 2010, reaching 1.8 by 2023, below the replacement level.
The 2026 pyramid records the moment the base turned. The widest band is 15–19, people born around 2007–11, and each younger band is narrower: there are about 1.6 million teenagers aged 15–19 but about 1.34 million children under 5. Ecuador’s fertility rate is now slightly lower than Peru’s, although the two pyramids remain very similar, as do those of Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
Migration waves and balanced sexes
The UN estimates net emigration of about 460,000 people between 1950 and 1999. Departures rose sharply around 1999–2000, when a banking crisis led to dollarisation, and many Ecuadorians moved to Spain, the United States and Italy. Later inflows, including people from Colombia and Venezuela, largely offset further emigration, so net migration for 2000–2023 was only about −60,000.
Unlike some emigration countries, Ecuador shows no clear gap in men of working age. Boys outnumber girls at birth, about 105 to 100, and men remain slightly in the majority up to the early thirties. Women predominate from the fifties onward, increasingly so above 75, a pattern driven by the five-year gap in life expectancy between women and men.
An older Ecuador
Infant mortality fell from about 140 per 1,000 births in 1950 to under 10 in 2023, and life expectancy rose from 48 to 77, so nearly every cohort now reaches old age. As the large cohorts born before 2010 move upward, the pyramid’s widest section climbs with them: to ages 35–44 in 2050 and to 55–69 by 2075, a shape typical of a constrictive pyramid.
Under the UN medium scenario the population rises to about 21.3 million in 2050, peaks at roughly 21.7 million in 2063, and deaths first exceed births in 2064. By 2100 a third of Ecuadorians are projected to be 65 or over, and the median age passes 50.
What to notice across the years
Distinctive cohorts and turning points
No five-year band under age 80 is more than 10% larger or smaller than both of its neighbours, so Ecuador’s 2026 pyramid has a comparatively smooth profile without sharp bulges or notches.
Births outnumber deaths in 2026; the medium scenario projects deaths to exceed births from 2064. People aged 65 and older are projected to outnumber children under 15 by 2050.
Births, deaths, and migration
A pyramid changes in only three ways: births add to the base, deaths remove people at every age, and migration adds or removes people mainly in young adulthood. In 2026, Ecuador is projected to record 267,031 births (about 731 births a day) and 98,155 deaths, a natural increase of 168,876. Net migration adds −13,851 people, ranking #147 in the net migration rate ranking.
Between 2000 and 2023 the UN estimates 7,446,166 births, 1,905,596 deaths, and cumulative net migration of −62,128. Over that period the balance of births and deaths moved the total more than migration did. See how migration shapes a pyramid and birth rate versus fertility rate. The medium scenario assumes net migration of −89,743 between 2026 and 2050.
Annual values 1950–2100; dashed lines after 2023 are the UN medium projection. The trend table below lists the values by decade.
Life expectancy and mortality
- Life expectancy, women
- 80.6 years50.2 in 1950
- Life expectancy, men
- 75.3 years46.7 in 1950
- Further years at 65
- 18.8 yearsboth sexes
- Infant mortality
- 9.3per 1,000 births · 140 in 1950
- Under-five mortality
- 11.4per 1,000 births
- Mother’s mean age at birth
- 27.5 yearssex ratio at birth 104.7
Women in Ecuador are projected to live 5.3 years longer than men, which is why the female side of the pyramid widens relative to the other at older ages (see the life expectancy gap ranking). Infant mortality has fallen from 140 to 9.3 deaths per 1,000 live births since 1950, ranking #121 of 237 in the infant mortality ranking (highest first). A mean age at childbearing of 27.5 years sets the spacing between generations, and so how far apart echo cohorts sit in the pyramid.
Median age, fertility rate, and global ranks for Ecuador
The median age of 29.7 years splits the population into two equal halves. A total fertility rate of 1.78 births per woman is below the replacement level of roughly 2.1, and life expectancy at birth is 77.9 years.
These ranks compare all 237 countries and areas in this dataset using the same 2026 UN medium projection. Ranks use the stored source precision, so displayed rounding can make adjacent values look identical; small differences should not be overinterpreted.
| Indicator | 2026 value | Global rank | Ranking direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 18,444,506 | #72 | Largest first |
| Median age | 29.7 years | #137 | Oldest first |
| Fertility rate | 1.78 | #127 | Highest first |
| Annual growth | +0.8% | #107 | Fastest first |
| Life expectancy | 77.9 years | #88 | Highest first |
| Population aged 65+ | 8.9% | #127 | Highest share first |
Largest age groups in Ecuador
The five largest cohorts identify where the 2026 population is concentrated. They can reflect past birth patterns, survival, and migration; the chart alone does not establish which cause dominates.
| Rank | Age group | Population | Share of total | Male / female |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15–19 | 1,598,286 | 8.7% | 815.2K / 783.1K |
| 2 | 20–24 | 1,549,248 | 8.4% | 788.1K / 761.2K |
| 3 | 25–29 | 1,546,943 | 8.4% | 782.8K / 764.1K |
| 4 | 10–14 | 1,528,619 | 8.3% | 780.1K / 748.5K |
| 5 | 30–34 | 1,498,959 | 8.1% | 754.5K / 744.5K |
Sex ratio and the balance by age
In the 2026 projection, Ecuador has 9,192,944 males and 9,251,563 females. That is 99.4 males per 100 females, ranking #87 when the dataset is ordered from the highest male-to-female ratio to the lowest.
Males account for 49.8% of the population and females for 50.2%. There are 58,619 more females than males overall. Among people aged 65 and older, the ratio is 81.7 males per 100 females.
The overall balance can conceal large differences by age; how sex ratios change with age explains the usual pattern. The ratio reflects the male/female categories in the UN source and is not a measure of gender identity. Compare all profiles in the sex-ratio ranking.
At birth, 104.7 boys are projected to be born for every 100 girls in 2026, close to the biological norm of about 105 (compare the sex ratio at birth ranking). The ratio at birth sets the balance at the base of the pyramid; how it changes with age then depends on survival and migration.
How Ecuador has changed since 1950
The population has increased from 3,516,791 in 1950 to 18,444,506 in 2026, a change of 424%. Over the same span, median age moved from 19.0 to 29.7 years.
The under-15 share changed from 40.6% to 23.3%, while the share aged 65 and older changed from 5.2% to 8.9%. These shifts show why total population growth and age-structure change need to be read separately.
How the population could change by 2050
Under the UN medium scenario, Ecuador’s population is projected to grow by about 16%, reaching 21,337,237 in 2050. The median age changes from 29.7 to 39.5 years.
The 65+ share is projected to rise by 8.3 percentage points to 17.2%. At the same time, the under-15 share is projected at 17.0%. How UN projections work explains the assumptions behind these figures.
The annual UN series reaches its highest projected population of 21,740,231 in 2063. That turning point depends on the medium scenario and may move in later revisions. Compare timing across countries in the population peak ranking.
Population trend: 1950–2100
Mid-year population for every year. Estimates through 2023; dashed line shows the UN medium projection.
| Year | Population | Median age | Fertility | Life exp. | Births | Deaths | Net migration | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 3,516,791 | 19.0 | 6.73 | 48.4 | 158,389 | 69,614 | +436 | +2.5% |
| 1960 | 4,590,891 | 17.0 | 6.72 | 53.4 | 200,665 | 70,298 | −1,746 | +2.8% |
| 1970 | 6,155,387 | 16.6 | 6.14 | 58.8 | 253,752 | 70,235 | −1,091 | +3.0% |
| 1980 | 8,165,877 | 17.4 | 4.73 | 63.3 | 287,407 | 67,284 | −517 | +2.7% |
| 1990 | 10,473,673 | 19.2 | 3.68 | 68.4 | 313,412 | 60,496 | −21,164 | +2.2% |
| 2000 | 12,689,206 | 21.1 | 3.10 | 72.1 | 325,418 | 65,579 | −40,859 | +1.7% |
| 2010 | 15,076,695 | 23.8 | 2.61 | 75.2 | 329,979 | 72,576 | −8,330 | +1.6% |
| 2020 | 17,546,065 | 27.2 | 1.97 | 72.0 | 287,589 | 131,146 | −10,320 | +0.8% |
| 2023 | 17,980,083 | 28.4 | 1.82 | 77.4 | 270,300 | 92,204 | −21,948 | +0.9% |
| 2024* | 18,135,478 | 28.8 | 1.81 | 77.6 | 268,769 | 94,423 | −19,704 | +0.8% |
| 2026* | 18,444,506 | 29.7 | 1.78 | 77.9 | 267,031 | 98,155 | −13,851 | +0.8% |
| 2030* | 19,069,719 | 31.5 | 1.75 | 78.6 | 264,848 | 106,646 | −3,487 | +0.8% |
| 2040* | 20,434,220 | 35.6 | 1.71 | 80.3 | 250,496 | 132,288 | −2,549 | +0.6% |
| 2050* | 21,337,237 | 39.5 | 1.68 | 81.9 | 227,581 | 161,522 | −2,112 | +0.3% |
| 2060* | 21,719,868 | 43.2 | 1.67 | 83.4 | 209,697 | 193,817 | −2,103 | +0.1% |
| 2070* | 21,625,452 | 45.9 | 1.65 | 84.7 | 196,269 | 226,865 | −2,173 | -0.1% |
| 2080* | 21,074,018 | 47.7 | 1.65 | 85.9 | 180,435 | 254,514 | −1,830 | -0.4% |
| 2090* | 20,168,411 | 49.1 | 1.64 | 87.0 | 166,696 | 267,082 | −1,742 | -0.5% |
| 2100* | 19,092,159 | 50.1 | 1.65 | 88.0 | 156,313 | 265,721 | −1,730 | -0.6% |
* 2024 onward is the UN medium projection. Fertility is births per woman; life expectancy is years at birth; births, deaths, and net migration are counts for that calendar year.
Download every year, 1950–2100 (CSV)
2026 population by age and sex
The table provides the counts behind the chart. Age groups are five-year bands, with everyone aged 100 or older combined.
| Age group | Male | Female | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0–4 | 682,234 | 653,697 | 1,335,931 | 7.2% |
| 5–9 | 735,883 | 705,381 | 1,441,264 | 7.8% |
| 10–14 | 780,114 | 748,505 | 1,528,619 | 8.3% |
| 15–19 | 815,160 | 783,126 | 1,598,286 | 8.7% |
| 20–24 | 788,061 | 761,187 | 1,549,248 | 8.4% |
| 25–29 | 782,801 | 764,142 | 1,546,943 | 8.4% |
| 30–34 | 754,477 | 744,482 | 1,498,959 | 8.1% |
| 35–39 | 696,813 | 692,655 | 1,389,468 | 7.5% |
| 40–44 | 637,232 | 640,785 | 1,278,017 | 6.9% |
| 45–49 | 555,692 | 566,779 | 1,122,471 | 6.1% |
| 50–54 | 481,844 | 496,848 | 978,692 | 5.3% |
| 55–59 | 410,572 | 431,307 | 841,879 | 4.6% |
| 60–64 | 337,684 | 363,622 | 701,306 | 3.8% |
| 65–69 | 267,645 | 297,310 | 564,955 | 3.1% |
| 70–74 | 204,238 | 236,718 | 440,956 | 2.4% |
| 75–79 | 140,231 | 173,735 | 313,966 | 1.7% |
| 80–84 | 78,090 | 108,011 | 186,101 | 1.0% |
| 85–89 | 33,053 | 55,550 | 88,603 | 0.5% |
| 90–94 | 9,444 | 21,579 | 31,023 | 0.2% |
| 95–99 | 1,551 | 5,394 | 6,945 | 0.0% |
| 100+ | 126 | 748 | 874 | 0.0% |
Countries with the most similar age structure
These profiles have the 2026 age distributions closest to Ecuador’s, measured by the total difference in the share of the population in each five-year band. Similar shapes can arise from very different histories, so the match is a starting point for comparison, not an explanation.
- India99% overlap · median age 29.2
- Mexico98% overlap · median age 30.0
- Peru98% overlap · median age 30.5
- Dominican Republic97% overlap · median age 28.7
- El Salvador97% overlap · median age 28.4
- Morocco97% overlap · median age 30.1
To calculate school-age, working-age, or older groups with other boundaries, use the age-group calculator for Ecuador.
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APA
World Population Pyramid. (2026, October 19). Ecuador Population Pyramid 2026. https://worldpopulationpyramid.com/countries/ecuador/
MLA
“Ecuador Population Pyramid 2026.” World Population Pyramid, 19 Oct. 2026, worldpopulationpyramid.com/countries/ecuador/.
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World Population Pyramid. “Ecuador Population Pyramid 2026.” Last modified October 19, 2026. https://worldpopulationpyramid.com/countries/ecuador/.
Underlying data: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2024). World Population Prospects 2024.
Frequently asked questions
What is the population of Ecuador in 2026?
Under the UN World Population Prospects 2024 medium scenario, Ecuador's population in 2026 is projected at 18,444,506.
What is the median age in Ecuador?
The projected median age in Ecuador in 2026 is 29.7 years: half the population is younger and half is older.
What is the fertility rate in Ecuador?
The projected total fertility rate in 2026 is 1.78 births per woman, below the replacement level of about 2.1 in low-mortality populations.
Is Ecuador's population projected to grow?
Between 2026 and 2050, the UN medium scenario indicates the population will grow by about 16%, from 18.4M to 21.3M.
What share of Ecuador is aged 65 or older?
In 2026, 8.9% of the projected population is aged 65 or older. By 2050, the medium scenario places the share at 17.2%.
How many babies are born in Ecuador each year?
The UN medium scenario projects 267,031 births and 98,155 deaths in 2026, about 731 births a day. Births exceed deaths by 168,876.
What is life expectancy in Ecuador for men and women?
Life expectancy at birth in 2026 is projected at 80.6 years for women and 75.3 years for men, a gap of 5.3 years in favour of women.
Does Ecuador have more immigrants or emigrants?
Ecuador is projected to lose about 13,851 more people through emigration than it gains in 2026. Between 2000 and 2023 the UN estimates cumulative net migration of −62,128.
What is the sex ratio in Ecuador?
The projected 2026 population sex ratio is 99.4 males per 100 females. This all-age ratio is different from the sex ratio at birth and can vary substantially by age.
Sources and notes
- United Nations, DESA, Population Division: World Population Prospects 2024, medium scenario.
- Population values are mid-year figures. Source values published in thousands are converted to people; displayed figures may imply more precision than is appropriate for planning.
- Historical values through 2023 are estimates. Values from 2024 onward are projections.
- Calculations follow the site methodology.