The Briefing
- Paraguay logged 33,243 residency applications during the January–June 2026 stretch, up 62% year over year, while immigration authorities actually issued 29,765 approvals over that same stretch — an 81% jump — with Brazilian nationals now claiming three of every four approvals.
- The boom is running headlong into new friction: a November 2025 law killed a $5,000 fast-track to permanent status, and a resolution taking effect this July now requires applicants to prove real, documented income before converting a temporary permit to a permanent one.
- The Central Bank raised its 2026 growth forecast to 4.5% and cut its inflation outlook to 3.3%, a combination almost no neighboring economy can currently match.
- Underneath those headline numbers, Paraguay's statistics agency counted 1.75 million informal workers as of the second quarter of 2026 — 61.6% of everyone employed, a share that is climbing even as the broader economy grows.
