Vulnerabilidad económica y contracción del Producto Interno Bruto Ecuatoriano en el contexto de la Pandemia

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of the Ecuadorian economy to external shocks, as reflected in the contraction of economic activity and socioeconomic inequalities. The objective of this study was to analyze the evolution of Ecuador’s gross domestic product (GDP) and its behavior in relation to indicators of economic vulnerability during the 2016–2025 period. A quantitative, non-experimental, longitudinal, and descriptive-comparative study was conducted through a documentary analysis of official statistics from the Central Bank of Ecuador and the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, processed using matrices, tables, and descriptive graphs. The results showed an economic contraction of 9.2% in 2020, followed by growth of 9.4% in 2021, a slowdown in 2023, another contraction in 2024, and a recovery in 2025. Furthermore, regional inequalities in poverty levels persisted, while unemployment exhibited fluctuations different from those of GDP. These findings demonstrate that economic recovery does not necessarily imply uniform social improvements and require consideration of the limitations of statistical comparability. It is concluded that the joint analysis of economic and social indicators allows for an understanding of vulnerability trends, without establishing causal relationships between the variables studied.