According to Ecuador’s Internal Revenue Service (SRI), turnover of textile industry decreased by 36 per cent from $1.38 billion in 2019 to $885 billion in 2020. According to Javier Diaz, President, Association of Textile Industries of Ecuador, the sector reported losses of $500 million during the past year.

Meanwhile, employment in the sector has dropped 29 percent and 20 percent for textiles and manufacturing, respectively.

Data from the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) indicates that the country went from exporting 26,000 tonne of textiles valued at about $103.8 million in 2019 to 28,400 tonne at $104.4 million. This represents an increase of 9 percent in volume and 1 percent revenue.

According to AITE, higher demand for abacáfibre (usually employed for manufacturing textiles and paper) and special products like face masks can explain the slight increase in exports. However, exports in clothing declined from $25 million in 2019 to $18 million in 2020.