Paraguayan exports under the maquila regime totaled $1.010 billion between January and August 2026, up 26% from the $801 million recorded in the same period of 2025. The result, reported by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (MIC), surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time in the year's first eight months.
Shipments reached $150 million in August alone. Auto parts, garments, beverages and alcoholic liquids, and aluminum manufactures accounted for 70% of the total. The export basket also included chemical and pharmaceutical products, plastics, food and other manufactured goods.
Mercosur concentrated 77% of exports, with Brazil and Argentina as the main destinations. Paraguayan products also reached the Netherlands, the United States, Chile and Uruguay, among other markets.
The activity is highly concentrated geographically: 90% of companies with approved maquila programs are located in the departments of Alto Paraná, Central, Capital and Amambay. The regime allows companies to import inputs for processing in Paraguay and re-export the products, with specific tax incentives.
The MIC estimates that the sector generates about 40,000 jobs. Approximately 70% of this workforce is linked to garments, auto parts, intangible services, plastics, and chemical and pharmaceutical products.
Imports by maquila industries totaled $529 million through August, up 17% from the same period of 2025. With exports of $1.010 billion, the sector recorded a positive trade balance of $481 million; external sales were 91% higher than purchases.
The growth increases Paraguayan industry's exposure to neighboring markets, especially Brazil and Argentina, which together form the country's main demand axis for goods produced domestically. At the end of 2025, maquila exports represented 69% of Paraguay's exports of industrial-origin manufactures, according to the MIC.