country profile

Ecuador

Latin America & CaribbeanUpper middle income18.29M population

Last updated August 4, 2026

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Progressing readiness

Composite GEFRI Score

Human Capital is strongest, but Innovation and Governance remain constraints

Ecuador shows progressing readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (51st percentile worldwide). Reforms are translating into broader capability, though uneven performance continues to slow system-wide alignment.

62.36Composite score
Global percentile
51st
Global rank
#87
Regional rank
#10
Viewing data for
Progressing readiness
Infrastructure
72.48
44th percentileGlobal avg. 70.44
Advanced readiness
Human Capital
78.74
68th percentileGlobal avg. 66.18
Severely underprepared
Innovation
43.69
46th percentileGlobal avg. 48.64
Severely underprepared
Governance
39.98
40th percentileGlobal avg. 47.07
Advanced readiness
Access & Parity
76.90
53rd percentileGlobal avg. 60.85

Country profile

Ecuador shows progressing readiness, with important strengths but continued gaps across the system. Most dimension scores sit close to global norms, without a single dimension standing far above the rest.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Policy execution and regulatory capacity remain weak, leaving reforms fragmented and hard to sustain. Gender parity across secondary pathways reflects sustained commitment to equitable participation.

Governance presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, Ecuador leads most clearly in School Access and Gender Parity, sitting well above the peer average.

Most indicators are observed rather than imputed, so estimation uncertainty is limited.

Key insights

Places 87th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 10th within Latin America & Caribbean.

Scores range from Human Capital (78.7) to Governance (40.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Latin America & Caribbean

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
341Chile80.13
382Uruguay76.69
433Argentina74.85
Cayman IslandsMicrostate70.01
St. Kitts and NevisMicrostate69.53
604Brazil69.26
695Colombia68.53
716Peru68.39
BarbadosMicrostate66.83
Antigua and BarbudaMicrostate66.10
797Trinidad and Tobago65.94
818Mexico65.54
ArubaMicrostate64.50
St. Vincent and the GrenadinesMicrostate64.29
DominicaMicrostate63.94
Turks and Caicos IslandsMicrostate63.69
GrenadaMicrostate63.56
839Puerto Rico63.46
8710Ecuador62.36
8811Cuba62.30
8912Costa Rica61.97
9213Dominican Republic60.49
St. LuciaMicrostate60.04
9514Jamaica59.66
Virgin Islands (U.S.)Microstate59.62
9615Panama59.61
Sint Maarten (Dutch part)Microstate59.40
9916Bolivia58.51
10217Belize57.80
10418Paraguay56.84
10519Bahamas, The56.82
St. Martin (French part)Microstate55.74
British Virgin IslandsMicrostate55.73
CuracaoMicrostate54.98
11120Venezuela, RB52.57
11421Guyana50.25
11722El Salvador47.95
12123Suriname45.13
13424Honduras41.17
13625Guatemala39.36
13726Nicaragua38.63
16627HaitiFCS27.97