Six out of ten Paraguayans worked informally throughout 2025, according to consolidated data from the National Statistics Institute (INE) obtained through the Continuous Permanent Household Survey (EPHC). The country's informal employment rate stood at 60.1%, equivalent to approximately 1.66 million people without access to social security or the labor rights provided by law.
The territorial and demographic analysis reveals sharp disparities. In rural areas, approximately seven out of ten non-agricultural workers are in informal situations, while in urban areas the proportion reaches six out of ten employed people. When broken down by sex, the female rate exceeded the male rate — 62.5% compared to 58.2%. However, in absolute terms, men concentrated the largest number of informal jobs, with approximately 897,000 people, compared to approximately 766,000 women in the same condition.
The extremes of the age pyramid are the most vulnerable. Young people between 15 and 19 years old recorded the most critical level of lack of protection, with 89.4% of those employed in this group in informal work. Meanwhile, the population aged 65 or older showed a rate of 79.4%, meaning that eight out of ten economically active elderly people operate without formal registration. The age group with the highest formalization rate was 35 to 39 years old, where the indicator dropped to 51%.
Educational level has a direct impact on job quality. Among workers with 13 to 18 years of study, informality stood at only 36.5%. At the other end, the rate soared to 84.2% among those with one to six years of education and reached 90.1% among those without formal academic instruction.
Income also proved to be a determining factor. In the segment earning less than one minimum wage, informality absorbed 79.8% of employees. Meanwhile, among those earning above three minimum wages, the rate fell to 26.2%. Job tenure also has an influence: 90% of employees with less than two months at a company do not have a formal contract, and this proportion only stabilizes at 52.2% when they surpass three years of employment.
By labor categories, domestic employment and self-employment lead in precariousness — nine out of ten private household employees and eight out of ten self-employed workers operate informally. Among economic sectors, Construction recorded the highest rate, at 81.7%, followed by Commerce, restaurants and hotels (63.9%) and Social services (59.3%). On the other hand, the financial and insurance sector had the lowest rates, at 36.1%, while public service consolidated itself as the most regulated sphere, with informality of only 18.6%.
Microenterprises concentrate a high density of the phenomenon: 73.5% of their workforce is part of the informal universe, unlike large industries, with 51 or more employees, where the problem affects only two out of ten workers. A striking fact is that, of the 551,193 private salaried workers classified as informal, 50.7% provided services at formally established companies.
The technical report closes with a warning about the social impact: 11.2% of the informally employed population lives below the monetary poverty line, and the informal sector accounts for 88.3% of all employed people living in poverty in Paraguay.