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More than one third of the workforce engages in agriculture, which accounts for almost 20% of the gross national product. Potatoes, manioc, corn, barley, rice, and wheat are grown for subsistence; coffee, bananas, and cacao are the main cash crops. Petroleum is the country's largest industry; others include food processing, metal works, and the manufacture of textiles, wood products, chemicals, and plastics.
Oil is Ecuador's leading export, followed by coffee, bananas, cocoa, shrimp, and fish products; other exports include forest products (notably balsawood), sugar, rice, and copper. The United States plus Latin American and European Union countries are its chief trading partners; Guayaquil and Esmeraldas are the chief ports. During the 1980s and 90s, Ecuador's leaders imposed austerity budgets on the government in an attempt to stimulate economic growth.
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