Asuncion scores 563 on the EF English Proficiency Index 2025. That is higher than Lima, higher than Santo Domingo, and far above Mexico City's 428. Paraguay as a whole ranks #43 of 123 countries, ahead of Peru, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. In September 2025 it also put a new maquila law into force that explicitly covers software and outsourcing exports. If English is your hardest filter, Paraguay deserves a look. Just know going in that its GitHub footprint is smaller than any country we cover except Nicaragua.
Key Takeaways
- Paraguay ranks #43 in the EF EPI 2025 (Moderate band, 531), and Asuncion scores 563, in the High range.
- Paraguay moved to permanent UTC-3 in October 2024: two hours ahead of New York in winter, one hour ahead in summer.
- The new maquila law, Ley 7547/2025, covers software and outsourcing services with a single 1% tax.
- With 93,779 GitHub developer accounts, Paraguay is a place to find individual engineers, not to staff a team.
English: The Standout
Paraguay scores 531 in the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, rank #43 of 123, unchanged from 2024. In Latin America, only Argentina, Honduras and Uruguay rank higher. Asuncion scores 563, which puts the capital in EF's High range (550-599), the band EF describes with tasks like "make a presentation at work."
One caveat from EF's country page: Paraguay's speaking score is its weakest skill, at 436. Reading (548), listening (514) and writing (507) are all stronger. EF's page also shows respondents in IT scoring 582, well above the national figure. So a candidate who writes clean English in a coding exercise may still need a live conversation to show they can think out loud in a design review. Run that conversation early.
Time Zone: A Recent Change
Paraguay used to switch between UTC-4 and UTC-3 with daylight saving time. In October 2024 it moved permanently to UTC-3 (IANA tz database). Older guides online still describe the old schedule, so check any source that predates late 2024.
The current overlap:
- Against New York: two hours ahead in winter, one hour ahead in summer.
- Against California: five hours ahead in winter, four in summer.
For East Coast teams, a Paraguayan engineer working 10:00 to 7:00 local covers 8:00 to 5:00 New York time in winter and 9:00 to 6:00 in summer. That works well. For West Coast teams, the day ends too early for much afternoon overlap. Why timezone overlap is the number one remote hiring factor covers how to weigh this.
The New Maquila Law
Paraguay's Ley 7547/2025 "Del Regimen de Maquila" took effect on September 8, 2025, replacing the old 1997 maquila law, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Companies under the regime pay a single 1% tax on the greater of national value added or the export invoice value. The old law allowed intangible activities without specific rules; the new one defines service maquila explicitly to include outsourcing, software, call centers and other intangible services sold abroad, per the Paraguay-Brazil Chamber of Commerce and ABC Color.
This applies to registered companies, not freelancers. The practical effect for you is that local firms have a stronger reason to build service exports to the US, and the sector is small but growing. Maquila service exports reached $47 million in 2025 with 3,982 jobs as of June 2026, per ABC Color citing ministry data.
The Talent Pool
GitHub's Innovation Graph counted 93,779 developer accounts in Paraguay in Q1 2026 (GitHub Innovation Graph). That includes inactive accounts. It is about a tenth of Peru's footprint and under 6% of Argentina's. The head of Paraguay's software chamber put the number of software companies at "around 300," about half of them small firms (La Nacion).
Asuncion is the hub. Computer engineering programs worth recognizing on a CV include the Universidad Nacional de Asuncion's Facultad Politecnica, the Universidad Catolica, and the Universidad Autonoma de Asuncion. Internet penetration was 83.1% at the end of 2025 (DataReportal).
How Paraguay Compares
| Country | UTC offset (no DST) | EF EPI 2025 | Capital score | GitHub accounts (Q1 2026) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paraguay | UTC-3 | #43, 531 (Moderate) | Asuncion 563 | 93,779 |
| Argentina | UTC-3 | #26, 575 (High) | n/a | 1,599,355 |
| Peru | UTC-5 | #52, 519 (Moderate) | Lima 555 | 907,052 |
| Colombia | UTC-5 | #76, 480 (Low) | n/a | 1,670,892 |
Argentina shares Paraguay's clock and beats it on English and pool size by a wide margin. Paraguay's case is as a complement: a strong-English market that far fewer US buyers are looking at. Our Argentina guide and Uruguay guide cover the rest of the Southern Cone.
Paying a Paraguayan Contractor
This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
Paraguay's currency is the guarani (PYG); most US companies pay contractors in dollars. Individual contractors register their own RUC with the tax authority, DNIT. Personal income tax runs at 8%, 9% or 10% by bracket under Ley 6380/2019 (DNIT); how exported services by individuals are taxed is a question for a local accountant. On the US side, the IRS sources personal-services income to where the work is performed (IRS). For contract structure, see contractor vs employer of record.
A Concrete Version
A 25-person B2B SaaS company in New York sells to enterprise customers and needs a senior backend engineer who will join customer calls about integrations. English is the first filter, ahead of stack.
They run a search across Paraguay, Argentina and Uruguay. Within three days, the vetted shortlist has five senior profiles; two are from Asuncion. One of them passes a 45-minute English conversation where the interviewer plays a difficult customer asking about webhook retries. That engineer gets the job.
Their day runs 9:00 to 6:00 Asuncion time, which is 7:00 to 4:00 New York time in winter and 8:00 to 5:00 in summer. Customer calls sit in the early afternoon Eastern. The contract is in dollars. Against a US hire at the BLS median of $135,980 plus benefits and recruiting, the all-in rate through a partner lands roughly 40-60% below the fully loaded US cost.
The Honest Counterpoint
Paraguay's pool is small. At under 94,000 GitHub accounts, you may see zero senior candidates for a specific stack in a given month, and a Paraguay-only search is rarely a good idea. The industry data is also thin: no verified developer counts, few named software exporters, and a maquila law so new that its regulations only came out in 2026.
The speaking-score gap matters too. Paraguay's reading, listening and writing scores are all stronger than its speaking, so do not skip the live conversation. And for West Coast teams, the four to five hour lead over Pacific time makes Paraguay a poor fit.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time zone is Paraguay in?
Since October 2024, Paraguay has stayed on UTC-3 all year. It is two hours ahead of New York in winter and one hour ahead in summer.
Is English good in Paraguay?
Paraguay scores 531 in the EF EPI 2025, rank #43 of 123, and Asuncion scores 563, in the High range. Speaking is the weakest skill, so test it live.
Does Paraguay's maquila law help me hire a freelancer?
Not directly. The regime applies to registered companies exporting services. Individual contractors register and pay tax on their own; get local advice.
The Bottom Line
Paraguay is a strong-English, East-Coast-friendly market with a tiny pool, best searched alongside Argentina and Uruguay. Ruzora sources senior engineers across Latin America and runs an AI interview and a graded coding assessment before anyone reaches you. You get a vetted shortlist within 72 hours. See available engineers, or read how to hire LATAM developers.
Roberto Espinoza is CEO of Ruzora, which helps US startups hire pre-vetted senior LATAM engineers, with a vetted shortlist in 72 hours. See available engineers.
