Paraguay ended 2025 with 16 banks, the same number recorded in December 2013. The number had reached 17 in 2020 but fell by one institution over the following five years, according to the 38th edition of the Regional Banking Economic Quarterly Report by the Latin American Federation of Banks (FELABAN), released in August 2026.
The figure places Paraguay’s market among Latin America’s smallest by number of institutions. In South America, the country ranks ahead only of Bolivia, with 14 banks, and Uruguay, with 10. Honduras, with 15, and Costa Rica and El Salvador, with 13 each, also rank below Paraguay. The Dominican Republic has the same number: 16 banks.
The regional comparison shows that Paraguay’s stability occurred amid consolidation. The total number of banks in the Latin American markets included in the series fell from 551 in 2013 to 533 in 2020 and 524 in 2025. In the first quarter of this year, the group totaled 526 institutions, still 25 below the 2013 level.
Trends varied among countries, however. Argentina went from 82 banks in 2013 to 73 in 2025; Panama, from 55 to 40; and Chile, from 23 to 17. Mexico, meanwhile, rose from 47 to 51 institutions, Colombia increased from 24 to 30, and Peru from 16 to 19.
Brazil remained the leader in the number of banks, with 155 institutions at the end of 2025. The country had 157 in 2013 and reached 161 in 2020. Argentina followed with 73, and Mexico with 51.
For customers and businesses, the number of banks is only one measure of a market’s structural size. The indicator alone does not show the degree of competition, asset concentration, branch coverage or availability of digital services. Even so, the series shows that Paraguay’s banking system kept its number of participants virtually unchanged for more than a decade, while other markets underwent mergers, closures or expansion.