Economy - overview Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector. The informal sector features both reexport of imported consumer goods (electronics, whiskeys, perfumes, cigarettes, and office equipment) to neighboring countries as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. The formal sector is largely oriented toward services. A large percentage of the population derive their living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. The formal economy has grown an average of about 3% over the past five years. However, population has increased at about the same rate over the same period, leaving per capita income nearly stagnant. The WASMOSY government has continued to pursue its economic reform agenda, albeit with limited success because of in-fighting in the ruling party and resistance from the opposition. Paraguay's ongoing integration into Mercosur (the Southern Cone Common Market) offers potential for investment and growth.

GDP purchasing power parity - $21.9 billion (1997 est.)

GDP - real growth rate 2.6% (1997 est.)

GDP - per capita purchasing power parity - $3,900 (1997 est.)

GDP - composition by sector
agriculture: 26.4%
industry: 24.9%
services: 48.7% (1995)

Inflation rate - consumer price index 6.2% (1997)

Labor force
total: 1.8 million (1995 est.)
by occupation: agriculture 45%

Unemployment rate 8.2% (urban) (1996 est.)

Budget
revenues: $1.25 billion
expenditures: $1.66 billion, including capital expenditures of $357 million (1995 est.)

Industries meat packing, oilseed crushing, milling, brewing, textiles, other light consumer goods, cement, construction

Industrial production growth rate 5.1% (1995)

Electricity - capacity 6.533 million kW (1995)

Electricity - production 40.05 billion kWh (1995)
note: exported about 36.96 billion kWh of electricity to Brazil

Electricity - consumption per capita 577 kWh (1995)

Agriculture - products cotton, sugarcane, soybeans, corn, wheat, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), fruits, vegetables; beef, pork, eggs, milk; timber

Exports
total value: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1997 est.)
commodities: cotton, soybeans, timber, vegetable oils, meat products, coffee, tung oil
partners: Brazil 48%, Netherlands 22%, Argentina 9%, US 4%, Uruguay 3%, Chile 2% (1997)

Imports
total value: $2.5 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
commodities: capital goods, consumer goods, foodstuffs, raw materials, fuels
partners: Brazil 29%, US 22%, Argentina 14%, Hong Kong 9% (1995)

Debt - external $1.3 billion (1996)

Economic aid
recipient: ODA, $38 million (1993)

Currency 1 guarani (G) = 100 centimos

Exchange rates guaranies (G) per US$ - 2,528.8 (January 1998), 2,191.0 (1997), 2,062.8 (1996), 1,970.4 (1995), 1,911.5 (1994), 1,744.3 (1993)

Fiscal year calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Paraguay on this page is re-published from the 1998 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Paraguay Economy 1998 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Paraguay Economy 1998 should be addressed to the CIA.