Ecuador reports dynamism in exports with growth of 22.3% in 2022

Ecuador’s total exports reached US$32,66 billion between January and December 2022, representing an increase of 22.3 percent compared to the same period in 2021, the Central Bank of the country reported on Tuesday.

The figures, which show dynamism in foreign sales, were released through the “Report Evolution of the Trade Balance by Products January-December 2022” disclosed yesterday by the entity.

The report detailed that, in 2022, oil exports increased by 35 percent, closing at US$11.59 billion, while non-oil exports grew 16.5 percent, driven by the sale of traditional and non-traditional products.

Specifically, traditional exports totaled US$12.07 billion, which represented an 18.4 percent increase compared to the same period in 2021, while non-traditional exports reached US$9 billion, or 14.0 percent more than in 2021.

The traditional products with the highest export growth in 2022 were coffee and processed products at 54.0 percent, followed by shrimp at 36.9 percent, and cocoa and processed products at 7.0 percent.

As for non-traditional products, mining products registered a growth in sales of 32.6 percent, fruit juices and preservation 26.3 percent, and chemicals and pharmaceuticals 24.0 percent.

“These products are the ones that reflect the greatest dynamism by having high increases in their export to the world, both in unit value and in the volume of exported cargo,” the report said.

On the other hand, the Central Bank detailed that between January and December 2022, the country’s total trade balance reached US$2.32 billion, that is, US$543.6 million less than the result obtained in a similar period in 2021.

“This meant a reduction in the trade balance of 19.0 percent,” he specified.

In turn, the oil trade balance recorded a favorable balance of US$3.96 billion, an increase of 6.6 percent compared to 2021, due to an increase in the value of oil goods exports (34.6 percent) and oil goods imports (63.8 percent), both mainly due to higher international prices.

Between January and December 2022, the average value of a barrel of oil exported was US$85.8.

Meanwhile, the non-oil trade balance showed a deficit of US$1.63 billion.