The most important component of the Paraguayan economy is the farming sector, which contributed 27% to GDP in 2006. The participation of commerce was 20.2%, and that of other services, including government, 38.4%. Industry’s part (including mining and construction) was about 20%.

After years of economic crisis, between 1999 and 1984, the Paraguayan economy grew at between 2.9 and 4.1% per year from 2003 to 2006. For 2007, the estimated growth is about 6.4%. Inflation in 2007 reached 6.0%.

Most enterprises are small, micro and individual ones, including subsistence jobs like street vendors. Only 4% of the Paraguayan labor force works in companies with more than 50 employees.

In June 2007 external foreign exchange reserves amounted to US$ 2153 million, and the foreign official debt US$ 2154 million, close to parity.
Fiscal surplus is provisionally reported as 0.5% of GDP in 2006 and 2007.
Paraguay’s economy (GDP) grew 5,8% in 2008, fastest growing sector being agriculture with 10,5% growth.

Agriculture

Agriculture accounts for about 20 percent of Paraguay’s annual gross domestic product (25 percent in 2004) and virtually all of the country’s export earnings. It is Paraguay’s largest and most consistent source of employment, employing about 45 percent of the working population. In addition to those engaged in the formal agricultural sector, thousands of Paraguayan families survive through subsistence farming.

Paraguay produces enough basic food to be largely self-sufficient. Corn, cassava, and wheat are the main food crops for local consumption. The global surge in grain prices 2007/2008 was a major impulse for the agricultural sector. Wheat cultivation expanded, so did rice. Most significant was the increase of soy production. In 2004 Paraguay had about 1.6 million hectares dedicated to genetically modified (GM) crops. Export value of soy and its derivates increased from US$1,25 billion in 2007 to US$2,54billion in 2008.

Paraguay’s eastern plains as well as the Chaco support the country’s dairy and ranching industry. Behind soybeans, beef exports make up a significant part of Paraguay’s agriculture sector. Additionally, Paraguay produces an adequate supply of beef, pork, and dairy products to meet domestic needs. The discovery of cases of foot-and-mouth disease in 2002 and 2003 led to a ban on Paraguayan beef in many countries. However, in 2004 Paraguay’s meat production and exports rebounded.

As a result of rising international prices and the recovery of important markets like Chile or Russia, Paraguay’s meat exports rose to US$143 million in 2004. They reached US$353 million in 2007 and US$597 million in 2008. Presently, Paraguay has a national herd numbering between 9 and 10 million head of cattle.

Paraguay’s forests adequately meet domestic needs for lumber and fuelwood. However, logging for export, both legally and illegally, has thinned Paraguay’s once abundant forests, resulting in a ban on the export of logs since the 1970s. More than 90% of the native rainforest of Paraguay’s eastern half have been lost between 1975 and 2008. In the western half, the Chaco, virgin forest is lost to cattle ranching at an annual rate of more than 200.000 hectare (2008). Sustainable wood cultivation is now on the increase.

The fishing industry in Paraguay exists almost solely to meet domestic demand.

Mining and Minerals

Main article: Mineral industry of Paraguay
Unlike many South American countries, Paraguay has few mineral resources and very little history of mining success. Foreign companies have explored Paraguay in recent years, searching for overlooked mineral deposits. Small extraction projects exist, seeking lime, clay, and the raw materials necessary to make cement, but the country’s iron and steel manufacturers must import raw materials from neighboring countries.

In 2010 CIC Resources Inc., the same company that discovered the copper deposits in Chile, claims to have discovered 21 billion metric tons of titanium, which could be the biggest titanium deposit in the world, in Alto Parana near frontier with brazil.

Industry and Manufacturing

The industrial sector produces about 25 percent of Paraguay’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employs about 31 percent of the labor force. Output grew by 2.9 percent in 2004, after five years of declining production. Traditionally an agricultural economy, Paraguay is showing some signs of long-term industrial growth.

The pharmaceutical industry is quickly supplanting foreign suppliers in meeting the country’s drug needs. Paraguayan companies now meet 70 percent of domestic consumption and also have begun exporting drugs. Strong growth also is evident in the production of edible oils, garments, organic sugar, meat processing, and steel. Nevertheless, capital for further investment in the industrial sector of the economy is scarce. Following the revelation of widespread financial corruption in the 1990s, the government is still working to improve credit options for Paraguayan businesses.

In 2003 manufacturing made up 13.6 percent of the GDP, and the sector employed about 11 percent of the working population in 2000. Paraguay’s primary manufacturing focus is on food and beverages. Wood products, paper products, hides and furs, and non-metallic mineral products also contribute to manufacturing totals. Steady growth in the manufacturing GDP during the 1990s (1.2 percent annually) laid the foundation for 2002 and 2003, when the annual growth rate rose to 2.5 percent.

Energy

Paraguay relies almost solely on hydroelectric power to meet its energy needs. The Itaipú Dam, completed in 1984, has the world’s second largest power-generating capacity: 13.3 gigawatts. The dam is located on the Paraguay River, and Paraguay and Brazil evenly share the ownership, operation, and electricity generated. Additionally, Paraguay co-owns another major hydropower plant, Yacyretá, with Argentina.

Paraguay uses only a small portion of the energy it generates through Itaipú and Yacyretá. In 2002 Paraguay generated more than 48 billion kilowatt-hours of energy. It consumed only 2.5 billion kilowatt-hours while exporting 45.9 billion kilowatt-hours. Paraguay will have even more hydroelectricity to export when planned new turbines are installed at Itaipú and the Yacyretá dam is fully completed.

In 2007 electricity production rose to 70 TWh, and exports reached 64 TWh which put Paraguay in second place worldwide as an exporter of electrical power (And in the first place as a net exporter since France, the Number one exporter in the World with 67 TWh, also imports 10 TWh, while Paraguay does not import any).

Paraguay has no oil reserves; it relies on imported oil to meet its limited need for oil-produced energy. The Paraguayan government owns Petróleos Paraguayos, which is responsible for all distribution of oil products. The state accepts bids from international oil companies, selecting a few companies annually to meet the country’s demand. Presently, Paraguay does not produce or consume natural gas, but consumes LPG imported mainly from the Argentine.

Services

The services sector made up nearly 50 percent of Paraguay’s gross domestic product in 2004 and employed about 19 percent of Paraguay’s working population. The importation of goods, especially from Argentina and Brazil, for sale and illegal reexportation creates service industry jobs.

The services sector had a moderate growth rate of 0.9 percent from 1990 to 2003. The sector decreased by 7.8 percent in 2002, before rebounding in 2003 with a 1.6 percent growth rate. Instability in the economy and a large black market have hampered development of the formal services sector in Paraguay.

Tourism

Paraguay has a small tourism industry. Total tourism receipts declined annually from 2000 through 2002. In 2003 Paraguay’s hotel occupancy rate was 38 percent. It increased by 15 percent in 2004. Small gains in tourism have come from business rather than leisure travelers.

For many years, Paraguay served as a central market for trafficable, duty-free goods. However, crackdowns by the governments of Brazil and Argentina have stemmed the flow of shoppers traveling to Paraguay looking for trafficable items.