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With poverty falling to 16% and extreme poverty receding to 2.4% in 2025, Paraguay accelerates its social turnaround and reinforces its position among the countries with the lowest scarcity rates in Latin America
Paraguay has returned to the center of the economic and social debate in the region with a number that immediately catches attention. Monetary poverty fell from 19.6% to 16% in just one year, while extreme poverty receded from 3.7% to 2.4%. In practice, the country has been presented by the government as one of the countries with the lowest poverty rates in Latin America, amid a regional scenario still marked by inequality, slow recovery, and pressure on family income.
The decline was also significant in absolute numbers. The total number of people in poverty fell from 1,198,290 to 985,126, which represents 213,164 Paraguayans out of this condition in just 12 months.
It is the kind of retreat that changes the internal debate, stirs politics, and puts Paraguay back on the map of discussions about growth with social impact.
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The decline came strongly in cities and in the countryside
The movement was not concentrated in a single part of the country. In urban areas, poverty fell from 16.9% to 13.6%. In the countryside, where social pressure tends to be harsher, the rate receded from 26.3% to 22.1%.
Extreme poverty, in turn, remained at 2.4% in the national result for 2025, equivalent to about 147,000 people. According to the INE, there was a reduction in poverty in all departments and also in the capital, Asunción.
The weight of social programs became impossible to ignore
Official data shows that the decline did not happen in a vacuum. The National Institute of Statistics itself pointed to the direct impact of the Tekoporã, Hunger Zero, and Older Adults programs on the containment of monetary poverty.
According to the agency, without these initiatives, total poverty would have reached 19.9%, meaning that about 239,000 people avoided falling below the poverty line thanks to state assistance.
This point helps explain why the reduction became a political showcase. President Santiago Peña celebrated the numbers and stated that the government adopted measures from day one to resume growth, generate jobs, and expand social protection.
At the same time, the official communication from Paraguay began to use the result as proof that the country has consolidated itself among the lowest poverty rates in the region.
The data is even more impressive when compared regionally
Even with different national methodologies among countries, Paraguay’s result stands out when placed alongside the most recent Latin American picture. CEPAL reported that income poverty in Latin America stood at 25.5% of the population in 2024.
In other words: the Paraguayan index of 16% in 2025 appears well below the known regional average, reinforcing the image of a country that has advanced faster than many of its neighbors in the post-pandemic period.
There is also another element behind this progress. The World Bank highlighted that the reduction of poverty in Paraguay has already been driven by higher real labor income, especially among the lower income brackets, in addition to the incorporation of cash transfers from the Hunger Zero program in the official measurement.
The INE itself also updated the series from 2022 to 2025 based on the new population projections derived from the 2022 Census, which helps provide more accuracy to the recent reading of the numbers.
Not everything has turned into an uncontested victory
Despite the official celebration, the dispute over the narrative of these numbers has already begun. After Peña stated that about 270,000 Paraguayans have escaped poverty since the beginning of his government, the local press showed that part of this comparison includes data prior to his administration.
The debate has reached Congress, with requests for information on how the government presented the impact of the reduction in poverty. This does not erase the significant decline recorded by the INE, but it shows that the battle is now also for the political authorship of this result.
What no one can ignore is the magnitude of the change. Paraguay closed 2025 with fewer poor people, less extreme poverty, and a narrative of regional ascent that is gaining strength both inside and outside the country.
There is still a heavy contingent of nearly 1 million people below the poverty line, especially in rural areas. But the new picture is already strong enough to make Paraguay one of the most observed cases in Latin America at this moment.
Comment if you believe that Paraguay can maintain this pace in the coming years and share this article with those who follow economics, politics, and opportunities in South America.
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