A demographic study of global growth patterns by the University of Barcelona predicts that Cuenca, Quito and Manta will rank one, two and three as the most popular Ecuadorian destinations for expats over the next 25 years.

The report, released in April, says that smaller communities expected to attract foreign residents are Vilcabamba, Ibarra, Cotacachi, Salinas, Bahia de Caraquez, Canoa and Tonsupa. Overall, the Ecuadorian coastal area will see the most growth in the overall number of foreign residents, but the study says the growth will be divided among a dozen locations along the 1,400 mile coastline.  

¨What we are observing is a surge of interest in Cuenca, much of it due to coverage in the European press,¨ authors of the report say. ¨Periodicals in Germany, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden have ranked the city as one of the best cities for foreigners considering relocation to live.¨ The study estimates that the number of North Americans and Europeans living permanently in Ecuador to be 27,000, a number increasing at a rate of 5% to 7% a year.

The study does not see a ¨boom¨ of new foreign residents in the immediate future. ¨The claims made by some that Ecuador will be the ´next Mexico´ or ´next Panama´ in terms of numbers of new foreign residents or a rapid escalation in real estate prices are not substantiaed by the facts,¨ the report says. ¨However, there is a definitely upward growth curve and the growing number of foreign residents will have a significant impact on the country in coming years.¨