There are now about 20,000 of citizens at Galapagos, compared to 5,000 who lived there in 1980s. Since 1998 an immigration restriction has been introduced, however, I could not find the details to this migration policy. Since the number of citizens is small, the islands are dependent on the economics of the Ecuador's mainland.

The economical situation of Galapagos is very unstable. The conflicts between the fishermen and the authorities of the park seem to be endless. Fishing (often illegal) is, along with the tourism, the only source of income for citizens.

The exemplary market prices for fishermen are:

Shark fins and sea cucumbers are one of the Aphrodisiacs popular in China. For this reason they are the focus for an increasingly bitter conflict between local fishermen, conservationists and commercial pressures. The illegal fishing will continue as long as the demand at the Chinese market exists. The only solution to this problem will be greater restrictions and low  enforcement by local authorities.

The number of registered fishermen living at the Galapagos Islands is 950.

The economics of whole Ecuador is unstable. The inflation rate in 2000 reached an enormous number of 91%! In 2001 it fell to 22% to end as 6% in 2003. Now it starts to raise again.

The politics of Ecuador turns out to be mostly against the wellbeing of Galapagos Islands. The government makes negative, rash decisions according to Galapagos preservation. Islands already suffer as a result of such actions and will suffer more, as the international organizations will stop their donations.