Paraguay’s Export Story In 2025: Less Soy, More Strategy

Key Points

1. Exports reached about $15.5 billion through November 2025, up 5.6%, while faster import growth left a roughly $1.03 billion trade deficit.
2. Raw soy fell sharply, but beef, hydroelectricity, and maize gains helped keep foreign-currency inflows strong.
3. Re-exports and maquila manufacturing grew fastest, hinting at a shift toward logistics and light industry.

For Paraguay, trade is not a side topic. Export dollars support the currency, pay for essential imports, and shape the country’s appeal to investors scanning South America.

The headline number masks a change in how Paraguay earns those dollars. “Registered exports” totaled about $10.37 billion, up 1.0%.

Re-exports rose to roughly $4.18 billion, up 17.1%. “Other exports” added about $988 million, up 13.5%. In simple terms, more growth is coming from Paraguay’s role in regional supply chains and cross-border commerce.

Soy remains central, but 2025 showed the downside of relying on the raw bean. Soybean exports fell to about $2.35 billion, down 25.1%.

The broader soy complex (beans, meal, oil) totaled roughly $3.50 billion, down 15.1%. Still, the composition improved: soybean oil export value jumped 46.6%, pointing to more processing before shipment.

Beef provided the strongest counterweight. Exports reached about $1.91 billion, up 24.4%, led by frozen beef at about $1.17 billion and chilled beef near $741 million.

Chile took roughly 31% of shipments, with the United States and Taiwan around 13% each, Israel near 10%, and Brazil about 6%. That concentration means market access decisions abroad can quickly move Paraguay’s income at home.

Electricity stayed a third pillar at about $1.12 billion, up 3.4%. Cereals totaled about $1.01 billion, up 19.6%, driven by maize, with export value up 84.9% and volumes up 88.7%.

Maquila exports reached about $1.14 billion, up 10.5%, and electrical wires and cables rose to about $112 million, up 15.2%.

The deficit is a reminder that growth can still strain the external balance. But the broader lesson is simple: predictable rules and open trade ties build resilience faster than sweeping, state-directed economic gambles.

This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error