Ecuador

Environment

Ecuador

Climate

tropical near the coast, transitioning to cooler temperatures inland at elevated regions; tropical within the lowlands of the Amazon jungle

Geoparks

global geoparks and regional networks

Imbabura: Napo Sumaco; Tungurahua (2025)

total global geoparks and regional networks

3 (2025)

Land use

other

28.6% (2023 est.)

forest

49.8% (2023 est.)

agricultural land

21.5% (2023 est.)

agricultural land: arable land

arable land: 4.1% (2023 est.)

agricultural land: permanent crops

permanent crops: 5.6% (2023 est.)

agricultural land: permanent pasture

permanent pasture: 11.8% (2023 est.)

Urbanization

urban population

64.8% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization

1.62% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Methane emissions

other

2.6 kt (2019-2021 est.)

waste

210.1 kt (2019-2021 est.)

energy

454.3 kt (2022-2024 est.)

agriculture

346.3 kt (2019-2021 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually

5.297 million tons (2024 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled

28% (2022 est.)

Environmental issues

deforestation; erosion of soil; desertification; contamination of water; pollution resulting from oil extraction waste in regions of the Amazon Basin and the Galapagos Islands

Total water withdrawal

municipal

1.293 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

industrial

549 million cubic meters (2022 est.)

agricultural

8.076 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

Carbon dioxide emissions

total emissions

38.286 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

from consumed natural gas

536,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

from coal and metallurgical coke

39,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

from petroleum and other liquids

37.711 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2023 est.)

Particulate matter emissions

17.3 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

Total renewable water resources

442.4 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

International environmental agreements

party to

Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified

none of the selected agreements