Paraguay formal employment rate reaches 40%, says President Peña

Paraguayan President Santiago Peña announced that the country's formal employment rate has reached 40%. This figure represents workers registered with social security through the Instituto de Previsión Social (IPS) or those whose companies are registered in the Registro Único de Contribuyentes (RUC).

Peña noted that the unemployment rate fell to 4.1% during the second quarter of this year, down from 5.8% during the same period in 2023, according to data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE). The President characterized this as a substantial improvement in job quality, as formalization ensures pension contributions.

During his administration, which began in August 2023, Peña has reaffirmed a campaign promise to create 500,000 new jobs by the end of his term in 2028. INE data also indicates that informal employment was 60.1% in 2025, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points from the 62.5% recorded in 2022.