In this study, the long-term features of 3-dimensional ozone fields in the tropics (30° S– 30° N) over the 25-year period (1979–2003) based on the solar backscatter ultraviolet (SBUV) version 8 satellite observations were analysed. The application of the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) decomposition allows characteristic spatial and temporal patterns to be identified in fields of partial ozone pressure anomalies, which are closely related to the natural causes such as the 11-year solar cycle, the Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and the Quasi Biennial Oscillation and an Annual Beat (QBO-AB). Also the vertical structure of the ozone QBO at the equator was investigated in comparison with the vertical structure of the zonal wind QBO. The analysis of the SBUV ozone data showed that the phase of the ozone QBO at the equator remains constant within the layer 10–50 hPa.