Based on the data regarding exports in 2017, Jose Antonio Camposano, the president of the National Chamber of Aquaculture (CNA), stated that there had been a technical tie between the two main non-oil export products of the country: bananas and shrimp.
However, the truth is that, for the first time ever, shrimp exports surpassed banana exports, even if it was only by $3 million. According to the data, in 2017 Ecuador exported around 940 million pounds of shrimp worth about $ 3,035 million; while banana exports amounted to $ 3,032 million.
The data is very similar to that of the Central Bank of Ecuador (ECB), which shows that from January to December of last year shrimp generated $ 3,037.86 million and bananas $ 3,034.54 million. The president of the CNA said that bananas exports had been higher than shrimp exports by $200 to $300 million during the last few years, including in 2014, when shrimp exports were higher than banana exports in the first nine months of the year and at the end of the year the balance favored banana exports.
In 2016, for example, according to ECB figures, banana exports stood at $2,734.16 million, $154 million more than the $2,580.15 million achieved by shrimp.
Source: eluniverso.com