The commercial activity is very important because it is

complementary to the production. The products must be

TRADE IN THE ECONOMY
transferred to the market in order to be sold and acquired by
the consumer. All the goods or articles that the national
economy can produce, in factories and companies,
agricultural and livestock units, require trade and, therefore,
be sold in the market, where there is supply and demand for
those products. According to the last census of the year
2010, the commercial activities absorbed 800 thousand
people, who constitute 17% of the active and working
population of the country .

An important example of what is happening in the retail trade,

and that combines thesale of appliances with food and other
consumer goods, is the great expansion ofsupermarkets and
Due to the lack of sources of employment or fixed jobs, many
shopping centers in large cities and medium-sized cities
people have opted for small street sales as the only means to
acrossthe country. The chains of large supermarkets are EXPANSION OF SUPERMARKETS OWN BUSINESS earn a living or to supplement family income.
displacing small familybusinesses. These large commercial
companies have organized smaller chains andhave even THE COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY Most people engaged in business in more than 10 employees
are located in retail trade. Then, 39% of the total of
reached the area of the neighborhood. This is a phenomenon
employees of the commerce sector belongs to the wholesale
that hasoccurred with great intensity throughout Latin
trade, that is, to the sale of large quantities of merchandise.
America, where it is common to seethe influence of large
transnational firms from European countries that operate
inlarge countries. In Ecuador it is a more recent event.

Export trade to the external market has been fundamental for

the development ofthe national economy. Currently, oil
exports are the most important. The foreigntrade of bananas,
shrimps, cocoa, flowers and tropical fruits is
remarkable.Progressively, the country is diversifying its Trade is concentrated, above all, in the provinces of
exports to other regions and countriesof the world, especially Pichincha and Guayas, becausethere are the largest
the neighboring and Latin American countries.Imports of economic activity and the largest cities in Ecuador: Quito
goods come from the United States, the European Union, FOREIGN TRADE CONCENTRATION OF TRADE andGuayaquil. In the two provinces is the 77% of the total
Asian countries,Japan and China. Countries that are commercial establishments.
suppliers of consumer goods, lubricants andfuels, raw
material for the nationalindustry and machinery. Ecuadoris
heavily dependent on theseimports. This is an important
causeof the decapitalization of thenational economy.