Currency of Ecuador: The US Dollar
US dollar, official since 2000 · Ecuador mints its own coins
Who Issues Ecuador's Money
Ecuador does not have a currency-issuing authority for its primary legal tender. The US dollar became Ecuador's official currency on March 13, 2000; sucre notes, Ecuador's previous currency, stopped being legal tender later that year and were exchangeable at a fixed rate of 25,000 sucres per dollar until March 2001.
The Banco Central del Ecuador (BCE) still exists and continues to mint Ecuador's own supplementary centavo coins and regulate the domestic banking system, but it does not issue Ecuador's primary currency. That role, for the US dollar itself, belongs to the US Federal Reserve, outside Ecuador's own monetary authority.
US Dollar in Global Context
Because Ecuador's own currency is the US dollar, a USD/USD exchange rate would be meaningless. Shown instead: the US dollar's reference rate against other major currencies, for general context, not as an Ecuador-specific figure.
Exchange Rate Context
A standalone conversion panel is not shown when this page does not carry a separate sourced reference-rate observation for the country currency setup.
Reference-rate status
No separate country-specific reference-rate value is displayed in the current page data.
Conversion guidance
Conversion tools are shown only when a directly sourced reference rate is available for this page.
Banknotes and Coins
Banknotes
Ecuador does not print its own banknotes of any kind. All paper currency in circulation is standard US Federal Reserve currency, unmodified.
Coins
Ecuador mints its own centavo coins, introduced alongside dollarization in 2000. They are identical in size and value to US cent coins and circulate interchangeably with them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ecuador's currency?
The United States dollar. Ecuador does not issue its own national currency; the US dollar became legal tender in Ecuador on March 13, 2000, replacing the sucre.
Does Ecuador issue any of its own money?
Ecuador issues its own centavo coins, in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 25 and 50 centavos, identical in size and value to US cent coins. Ecuador does not issue banknotes; only US dollar banknotes are used.
Does Ecuador still have a central bank?
Yes. Banco Central del Ecuador (BCE) still exists under dollarization. It helps preserve the dollarized monetary system, manages international reserves and the central payments system, and provides Ecuador's national fractional coins, but it does not issue the country's primary currency.
Why is there no exchange rate converter on this page?
Because Ecuador's currency is the US dollar itself, showing a USD/USD exchange rate would be meaningless. This page shows the US dollar's rate against other major currencies instead, for general context.
Sources & methodology
Sources for the data and definitions shown above.
View sources used for this page
Dollarization date, sucre exchange terms, and Ecuador's own coin issuance.