Economy - overview:
Landlocked Paraguay has a market economy marked by a large informal sector, featuring reexport of imported consumer goods to neighboring countries, as well as the activities of thousands of microenterprises and urban street vendors. A large percentage of the population, especially in rural areas, derives its living from agricultural activity, often on a subsistence basis. Because of the importance of the informal sector, accurate economic measures are difficult to obtain. On a per capita basis, real income has stagnated at 1980 levels. Most observers attribute Paraguay's poor economic performance to political uncertainty, corruption, limited progress on structural reform, and deficient infrastructure. The economy rebounded between 2003 and 2008, however, as growing world demand for commodities combined with high prices and favorable weather to support Paraguay's commodity-based export expansion. Paraguay is the sixth largest soy producer in the world. Drought hit in 2008, reducing agricultural exports and slowing the economy even before the onset of the global recession. The economy fell 3.5% in 2009, as lower world demand and commodity prices caused exports to contract. The government reacted by introducing fiscal and monetary stimulus packages.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$28.28 billion (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP (official exchange rate):
$13.61 billion (2009 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
-3.5% (2009 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$4,100 (2009 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 22.3%
industry:
18.1%
services:
59.6% (2009 est.)
Labor force:
2.983 million (2009 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 31%
industry:
17%
services:
52% (2007)
Unemployment rate:
7.9% (2009 est.)
Population below poverty line:
32% (2005 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.1%
highest 10%:
42.3% (2007)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
56.8 (2008)
Investment (gross fixed):
17.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $2.323 billion
expenditures:
$2.444 billion (2009 est.)
Public debt:
22.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.5% (2009 est.)
Central bank discount rate:
20% (31 December 2008)
Commercial bank prime lending rate:
25.81% (31 December 2008)
Stock of money:
$2.062 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of quasi money:
$1.599 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of domestic credit:
$3.098 billion (31 December 2008)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$NA (31 December 2008)
Agriculture - products:
cotton, sugarcane, soybeans, corn, wheat, tobacco, cassava (tapioca), fruits, vegetables; beef, pork, eggs, milk; timber
Industries:
sugar, cement, textiles, beverages, wood products, steel, metallurgic, electric power
Industrial production growth rate:
-4% (2009 est.)
Electricity - production:
53.19 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - consumption:
5.337 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - exports:
45.14 billion kWh (2007 est.)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)
Oil - production:
27 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - consumption:
28,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - imports:
25,100 bbl/day (2007 est.)
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
Current account balance:
$-289 million (2009 est.)
Exports:
$6.196 billion (2009 est.)
Exports - commodities:
soybeans, feed, cotton, meat, edible oils, electricity, wood, leather
Exports - partners:
Argentina 31.7%, Brazil 15.9%, Uruguay 11.7%, Chile 6.4%, Russia 5.7% (2008)
Imports:
$6.756 billion (2009 est.)
Imports - commodities:
road vehicles, consumer goods, tobacco, petroleum products, electrical machinery, tractors, chemicals, vehicle parts
Imports - partners:
Brazil 27.2%, US 22.1%, Argentina 14.9%, China 10.4% (2008)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$3.431 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Debt - external:
$3.31 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$NA (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA
Exchange rates:
guarani (PYG) per US dollar - 5,018.2 (2009), 4,337.7 (2008), 5,031 (2007), 5,672.8 (2006), 6,178 (2005)
NOTE: The information regarding Paraguay on this page is re-published from the 2010 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Paraguay Economy 2010 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Paraguay Economy 2010 should be addressed to the CIA.
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This page was last modified 09-Feb-10