ECUADOR · ECONOMY
Key Facts
- —What is happening Ecuador’s official price index for September, published on Thursday, 15 October, shows annual inflation of 1.34%, up from 1.12% in August, and a monthly rise of 0.30% led by food prices.
- —Why it matters Ecuador uses the US dollar, so its price index measures the cost of living in US$, and annual inflation rose for the first time since June after falling for two months.
- —The numbers Prices rose 0.30% in the month and 1.65% since December, food prices climbed 1.14%, and the national family basket cost US$833.82 against a monthly minimum wage of US$482.
- —Who is who INEC, the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos, is Ecuador’s official statistics office, and since July it has used a new base year and tracks a 98-item family basket for four people.
- —What to watch The October price index is due in mid-November, and it will show whether the September jump in tomatoes, eggs and canned tuna fades or spreads.
- —Power Index Ecuador ranks 8th of 14 in The Rio Times Latin America Power Index, with 38.2 points (October 2026 edition).
- —What it means for you Ecuador’s 1.34% annual rate sits 2.4 points below the 3.7% US rate, and the US$833.82 monthly basket for four people gives retirees, expats and remittance senders a yardstick for local costs.
Ecuador inflation rose to 1.34% in the year to September, up from 1.12% in August, official figures show. Food prices jumped 1.14% in the month, while fuel prices fell 1.54%.
Ecuador inflation reached 1.34% in the year to September, the statistics office INEC said on Thursday, 15 October. That is up from 1.12% in August and the first annual rise since June.
Ecuador uses the US dollar, so the index is a direct read on dollar living costs for US retirees and remitters. The 1.34% rate sits well below the 3.7% US rate reported on 14 October.
What the Ecuador Inflation Data Show
INEC (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos) published the bulletin at 09:00 Quito time, 10:00 Eastern Time. Prices rose 0.30% from August, against 0.04% a month earlier and 0.08% a year earlier.
Annual inflation was 2.60% in April, its 2026 high, then dropped to 0.92% in May, when prices fell 0.62% in the month. Since December 2025 prices have risen 1.65%, and September’s 0.30% is the biggest monthly gain since June’s 0.79%.
Food Prices Drove the September Rise
Food and non-alcoholic drinks added 0.25 percentage points of the 0.30% monthly rise, INEC’s bulletin shows. Food prices climbed 1.14% in the month, while non-food prices rose only 0.06%.
Tomatoes rose 14.23%, canned tuna 7.34%, eggs 5.07% and potatoes 4.63%, and tomatoes alone added about 0.05 points. Broccoli climbed 18.49% and watermelon 12.88%.
Information and communication added 0.06 points, led by audiovisual content subscriptions, which rose 14.82%. Home internet rose 0.87%, and restaurants and lodging added 0.03 points.
Fuel prices fell 1.54%, and INEC’s presentation shows transport as the biggest drag, taking 0.06 points off the monthly rate. Goods prices rose 0.44% and services 0.13%, INEC’s indicators show.
Where Prices Rose Most Across Ecuador
Santo Domingo recorded the largest monthly rise at 0.64%, followed by Guayaquil at 0.47% and Esmeraldas at 0.46%. Quito rose 0.37% and Cuenca 0.24%, while prices fell 0.39% in Machala and 0.41% in Manta.
The Sierra highlands rose 0.33% and the Costa coast 0.27%, INEC says. All amounts in this article are in US dollars, Ecuador’s currency, so no conversion is needed.
A New Index and a New Family Basket
INEC began publishing a new index with the July 2026 data, using July 2025 to June 2026 as its base of 100. Its weights come from the 2024-2025 household income and spending survey, ENIGHUR, with support from the UN regional commission CEPAL.
The national basket (CFBC) costs US$833.82 a month for four people and holds 98 items, 37 of them food. It replaces a 1982 basket, so INEC says figures before July are not comparable.
Food and drinks make up US$360.29 of the basket, and housing, utilities and household services US$278.74. INEC’s August bulletin put the basket at US$828.06, so September’s cost is US$5.76, or 0.70%, higher.
The basket is dearest in Cuenca at US$891.36 and cheapest in Esmeraldas at US$780.82. Quito costs US$860.20 and Guayaquil US$845.95, while the Sierra averages US$847.79 and the Costa US$820.91.
The 2026 minimum wage is US$482 a month, US$12 above 2025, Teleamazonas and Expreso reported on 15 December 2025. One minimum wage equals about 58% of the basket, a simple calculation, since the bulletin gives no wage comparison.
Ecuador and US Inflation Side by Side
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics put September US inflation at 3.7% over 12 months and 0.6% in the month. Ecuador’s rates of 1.34% and 0.30% were about 2.4 points and 0.3 points lower.
US energy prices rose 5.2% in September and US food was unchanged, the bureau said. In Ecuador fuel fell 1.54% and food rose 1.14%, the opposite pattern.
The indexes differ in baskets, weights and coverage, so the comparison shows direction rather than a like-for-like gap. Ecuador’s index prices nine urban cities, while the US index covers urban consumers nationwide.
What It Means for US Readers
Retirees and expats paid in US dollars face local prices that rose 1.34% in a year, with food the main pressure point. Cuenca has the dearest basket at US$891.36, and Quito costs US$860.20 for four people.
A US$100 remittance covers about 12% of the national basket. For context on money sent home, see the earlier report on second-quarter remittances to Ecuador.
For background, see Ecuador Explained, the Ecuador economy guide, the second-quarter growth report and the Quito city guide. The July fuel-price decree explains how pump prices are set.
What Is Not Known
No forecast for the September figure could be confirmed, so this article does not say whether it beat expectations. INEC’s bulletin and presentation contain no forecast, so only the official August rate of 1.12% is used for comparison.
INEC’s bulletin lists products and divisions but does not say why tomatoes, eggs and tuna jumped. Whether weather, power cuts or supply problems played a part is not stated.
Because the basket changed in July, the US$833.82 cost cannot be compared with figures before July. The year-on-year change in basket cost is therefore not known.
The figures here come from INEC’s own bulletin and presentation, and no Ecuadorian outlet report on the September figures was found. INEC’s presentation prints city basket values without clear labels, so only the bulletin’s city tables are used.
What Comes Next
INEC’s bulletin says results come out on the tenth working day of each month, so the October index should appear in mid-November. The next signal is whether tomato, egg and tuna prices ease, since food supplied 0.25 of September’s 0.30 points.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ecuador’s inflation rate?
Annual inflation was 1.34% in September 2026, up from 1.12% in August, INEC says. Prices rose 0.30% in the month and 1.65% since December.
What pushed Ecuador’s prices up in September?
Food and non-alcoholic drinks supplied 0.25 of the 0.30 points of monthly inflation. Tomatoes rose 14.23%, eggs 5.07% and canned tuna 7.34%.
How much does Ecuador’s family basket cost?
The national basket cost US$833.82 in September for a household of four, INEC says. It was US$847.79 in the Sierra, US$820.91 on the Costa and US$891.36 in Cuenca.
Why do US readers follow Ecuador’s inflation?
Ecuador uses the US dollar, so its price index measures living costs in US$. Annual inflation of 1.34% compares with 3.7% in the United States.
What is Ecuador’s minimum wage in 2026?
The monthly minimum wage is US$482, US$12 above 2025, Teleamazonas and Expreso reported. It equals about 58% of the national basket cost.
Is the new price index comparable with the old one?
INEC says basket figures from July 2026 are not comparable with earlier periods. The new index uses a July 2025 to June 2026 base.
Sources: INEC release page, 15 October 2026; INEC Boletín Técnico IPC septiembre 2026; INEC Presentación Resultados IPC septiembre 2026; US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index release, 14 October 2026; INEC Boletín Técnico IPC agosto 2026;Teleamazonas, 2026 minimum wage, 15 December 2025; Expreso, 2026 minimum wage, 15 December 2025 (all accessed 15 October 2026).
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief