Until the 1970s the economy was largely dependent on the export of tannin, meat products, yerba maté, tobacco, and cotton. Whereas those products have declined, the cultivation of soybeans, which are grown in the Eastern Region, has increased significantly. By 2006 Paraguay had become one of the top exporters of soybeans in the world, a distinction that continued into the 2010s. The country’s other principal exports are meat products, wheat, corn (maize), and hydroelectricity. Paraguay’s principal export destinations are Brazil, Russia, Argentina, Chile, and the Netherlands.

Paraguay imports machinery, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, and automobile and bus parts. Brazil, China, Argentina, the United States, and Japan are the main sources of Paraguay’s imports. The country’s trade statistics have been severely underestimated because of widespread smuggling of consumer goods to Brazil and Argentina. However, from the late 1990s the Brazilian government’s introduction of stricter control of purchases made in Paraguay led to a drop in the smuggling trade. Paraguay is a member of Mercosur, a regional economic organization formed by the Treaty of Asunción in 1991.

Services

The service sector accounts for about two-fifths of the country’s gross domestic product and employs about two-fifths of the country’s documented workforce. Tourism plays an important role in the economy, and Paraguay’s many historic churches and towns serve as points of interest. Several missions established by the Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries remain, and two of those, La Santísima Trinidad de Paraná and Jesús de Tavarangue, were designated UNESCO World Heritage sites in 1993. The Chaco region is home to many national parks and biological reserves. On Paraguay’s eastern border, Iguazú Falls and the Itaipú Dam are frequently visited sites, as is Ciudad del Este, one of South America’s largest shopping centres, where visitors come mainly from Brazil and Argentina to buy duty-free goods.

Labour and taxation

Paraguay has one of the most inequitable income distributions of any country. Unemployment remains high: more than one-fifth of the workforce is unemployed or underemployed. Women make up about one-third of the labour force and work mainly in factories and domestic service. Under Gen. Alfredo Stroessner (1954–89), labour unions were strictly controlled, which helped to keep wage increases low. For most of his rule, the country had one large government-recognized trade union, the Confederation of Paraguayan Workers (Confederación Paraguaya de Trabajadores; CPT). After Stroessner’s fall, a number of independent union groupings emerged, most notably the Unified Workers Central (Central Unitaria de Trabajadores; CUT). About one-eighth of workers are members of Paraguay’s more than 1,500 labour unions.

Paraguay has a limited business tax and a 10 percent value-added tax. Since 1991, taxes in Paraguay have been lower than those in almost all other South American countries. In general, tax evasion has been widespread in Paraguay. In the early 21st century, the rate of taxation on businesses was reduced to 10 percent in a move to ensure companies’ compliance. Personal income tax was finally introduced in 2013 for top-income earners, but with extremely high deduction allowances.

Transportation

During the mid-20th century, most international freight was transported along the Paraguay and Paraná rivers, which link Asunción and other Paraguayan ports to the Atlantic Ocean via Argentina. From the 1970s freight was increasingly taken by road, particularly to the Brazilian ports of Santos and Paranaguá. However, since 2000 there has been a resurgence of the use of river barges, especially in transporting soybeans for export, because of rising fuel costs.

Roads

Paraguay has a sizable road network equipped with adequate bridges, but a considerable portion remains unpaved. The country’s major highway network forms a triangle connecting Asunción, Encarnación, and Ciudad del Este, where the Friendship Bridge spans the Paraná and carries the highway into Brazil. That paved road continues to the port of Paranaguá, a free-trade zone. Another bridge links Encarnación to Posadas, Argentina, while a suspension bridge, part of the Pan-American Highway, links Asunción and Clorinda, Argentina. A bridge links Asunción to the Trans-Chaco Highway, which runs about 470 miles (760 km) northwest to the Bolivian border. Although the highway was completely paved by 2008, large sections of it were subject to rapid deterioration.

Telecommunications

Paraguay has one of the lowest ratios of fixed-line telephone and Internet usage per person in South America. Partly in response to that, cellular phone use has risen dramatically, and by 2015 there were as many cell phones in the country as there were Paraguayans.