It’s a founding member of Mercosur, one of its national languages is Spanish, the capital is Asunción and Paraguay ranks as one of the happiest places in the world.

As you can probably tell from the high score Paraguay gets, this is an amazing country to move to, or just to place one or more of your flags in.

Paraguay used to be a Spanish colony – of course, until the locals told them to fuck off in 1811, after which some dictators rose to power.

Civil unrest and general mayhem and wars were rampant well into the 20th century, and after World War 2 a whole lot of Nazis made it their home.

This is still visible in a large substantial German population.

Currently the country seems pretty stable, under a representative democratic republic with separation of powers across three branches.

Paraguay’s geography consists of grassy plains, wooded hills, marshy plains, the Chaco, lakes, and so on. Pretty varied, and quite beautiful.

While the country has made great strides economically, up to 50% of the population can still be considered poor.

While this isn’t ideal at all, it does mean the cost of living is very low.

It’s one of the least urbanized countries in Latin America, and has a very low population density.

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Moving to Paraguay requirements

Moving to Paraguay does not come with a lot of requirements, and citizens of most countries do not even need to get a visa.

Citizens of the European Union can stay up to 90 days without one, and Americans and Canadians can get a Visa on Arrival, which is renewable for another 90 days.

As with every other country you are moving to, the only real hard requirement you need to get sorted is having a location independent income.

You need to be your own boss, you need to be in full control of the money you earn, and you need to be able to earn this regardless of where you are in the world.

If you have that sorted, and you speak some Spanish, you can live in Paraguay, and live well.

Cost of living in Paraguay

The cost of living in Paraguay is – as expected – really low: anyone with a budget of around $800 a month can live in Paraguay.

You wouldn’t be living a life of luxury, but you’d be fine.

Even for Latin America, this cost of living is pretty damn good, and it’s definitely one of Paraguay’s main selling points.

The infrastructure might not be up to your standards, but – and this is key – year after year it’s getting better, as opposed to the West where it’s getting worse.

Living in Paraguay advantages

No tax on foreign sourced income

As I talk about in plenty of detail on this site, the number one thing you need to get sorted before moving abroad is setting up (several sources of) location independent income. Not having to pay taxes on this income when you are living in Paraguay is amazing
Great climate

Plenty of sunshine and not a lot of rainy days. The average temperature is ideal for human beings, although the humidity is a tad high
Beautiful nature

Paraguay is a beautiful country, and is divided into two separate regions. In the east you have grassy plains and wooded hills, and in the west mostly low, marshy plains. There are waterfalls, forests, interesting animals, and so on
Low cost of living

Although Paraguay is not as dirt-cheap as some other countries, it’s still wildly cheaper than any Western nation, and your dollar or euro will go much further here. You can upgrade your lifestyle while lowering your expenses
Friendly and happy people

Paraguayans are generally a very friendly bunch. They are considered and ranked as one of the happiest nations in the world
Thin language barrier

Spanish is one of the official languages in Paraguay, and this language is rather easy to learn. You can certainly get by with just English (as their average proficiency is of Moderate level), but I would advise you to put in some effort and learn Spanish. This will also help you when traveling to other Latin countries
Part of Mercosur

Paraguay is a founding member of Mercosur, and this means that if you attain citizenship or residence, you can easily travel to other countries such as Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina
Developing country

Paraguay is still in full development. They are working hard on improving their infrastructure and economy, and Paraguay is definitely a country on the rise. If you want to invest here, you’ll probably be able to profit from it
Insignificant

Paraguay is a rather insignificant player on the global stage. It’s very under the radar, tucked away between other nations. This means that it doesn’t have any real enemies, nobody wants to invade it, there is virtually no terrorism here because it doesn’t pick fights with other nations. This is exactly what you want
Easy visa

As mentioned earlier, many Westerners do not need to apply for a visa, and they either do not even need one, or can just get one upon arrival. Even better, attaining residence and citizenship is also relatively easy and fast

Living in Paraguay disadvantages

Diverse climate

Although the average climate numbers are great, they are not painting an accurate picture, as the difference between the west and east part of the country, and between seasons, is rather stark
A poor populace

Between 30 and 50% of the Paraguayan population can be considered poor. While this is good for you personally, because your foreign sourced income can go a long way … income inequality is nonetheless never good
Corruption

Paraguay has a rather transparent and fair electoral system, yet fraud and corruption do seem widespread. For me personally this is a rather small matter, because I don’t care about politics, and occasionally having to pay a bit more to grease the wheels is an acceptable drawback of the lower general cost of living

Moving to Paraguay - by the numbers

Paraguay Score

Shithole Paradise

Climate: 8.6/10

Hours of sunshine (9.5/10)	Temperature (10/10)	Rainy days (10/10)	Humidity (5/10)
7.3	23 C – 73 F	8	75%

Level of English: 6/10

Moderate Proficiency

Cost of Living: 9/10

Minimum Annual Wage	Average monthly cost single person
$4,402	$415 (+$260 rent 1 BR)

Taxes on international income: 10/10

Foreign-sourced income is not taxable.

This is the best case scenario here, and is really, really great and one of the biggest advantages of Paraguay.

Economic growth: 8/10

Average GDP growth over the last 10 years: 4.3%

Safety: 8/10

Global Terrorism Index (10/10)	Intentional homicide rate (5/10)	Rape rate (9/10)
2.4	7.1	6

Visa: 9.7/10

Visa (9/10)

No visa required for most countries, citizens of the EU can stay up to 90 days without a visa, US, Canada and Australia get a visa on arrival, renewable for another 90 days
Permanent Residence (10/10)

A Paraguay Permanent residence Permit is pretty easy and straightforward to get, one of the easiest Permanent residences in the world. You only need to visit once every 3 years to maintain your status. Can also get it through investment
Citizenship (10/10)

After 3 years of residence you can get citizenship

Is Paraguay a good place to live?

As a Westerner moving to Paraguay, this is an excellent country to live in.

I’ve done plenty of research into dozens of countries, ascribing each nation a score, and Paraguay comes out on top.

It has a pleasant climate, friendly people, Spanish as a national language, easy visa/residence/citizenship process, and 0% taxes on foreign sourced income.

In addition, it’s relatively safe, has a low cost of living, and is a developing country which will improve greatly in the next few decades.

Is Paraguay a good place to live for the poor, uneducated natives?

Probably not … but you most likely do not fall into that category.

Get your location independent income sorted, take a trip to Paraguay, and experience this country first-hand.

I for one am planning to plant at least 2 Flags in this country starting in 2023, because they inevitably tighten their policies.

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3 thoughts on “Moving to Paraguay”

Michel Eyquem says:
December 6, 2022 at 5:04 am

I like your website, I like this Page and Paraguay. I think I will pay them a visit and have a look myself.

One thing though that I miss (not only) on this website is a subject that will become more and more important, it is the climate change which undoubtably has already started worldwide, but of course no one can tell where it will end.
But every country shows the first symptoms, most obvious example would be Australia…. I will most ceratinly not switch to any country about I which do not know the basic trends.

Nick S. says:
December 29, 2022 at 7:19 am

Paraguay is probably the best bolt hole in the world (in the southern hemisphere, politically neutral, produces enough hydroelectricity to power the country 30 times over, net agriculture exporter, not many people).

Then throw on top of that: one of the world’s best territorial tax systems, extremely friendly people, low cost of living, a small government, mercosur benefits, and within driving distances of some of the coolest countries on earth, and you have a real winner!

1. Stephen says:
  January 3, 2023 at 2:45 am
  
  Agreed 100%, on all your points.

Moving to Paraguay

What is Paraguay?