Author: dan

Retire in Paraguay

In this video, I share the cost to retire overseas in Paraguay.  

Google Map

With my feet on the ground, I am going to show you living cost estimates for the low to middle range, and why many foreigners are retiring here.

First, I will show you around Paraguay, so you know whether or not you are even interested in living or retiring here. Second, I will share low to middle-range living costs.  Third, I will share visas, residency, healthcare, walkability, weather, social considerations, things to do, and safety.

Here is a map of my favorite neighborhoods in Ascunción, the capital of Paraguay.  This walk took me a few hours, but I will just show you the highlights.  

Google Map

This was my first time in Paraguay, making it my 75th country.  

Qiang decided not to join me in Paraguay because Paraguay wanted too many documents before issuing her a tourist visa.  But just a week ago, Paraguay announced visa-free entry for Malaysians and other countries, but it was too late for her.  

But don’t worry, most of you in Western countries can visit here without applying for a visa.  I interviewed two expats while in Paraguay who chose to retire here.  

Here are some of the benefits they shared.  Foreigners can own a home in their own name, including the land under it.  Homes start around $30k USD in rural areas. Foreigners can get citizenship (and a passport) in 4 years.  Paraguay passport holders can visit Europe without a tourist visa.

Now, I will give a line-item estimate of the cost of living for two people in the capital of Paraguay, Ascunción.  Then I will share about the retirement visa, healthcare, walkability, weather, social considerations, things to do, and safety.

Estimated Cost to Retire in Ascunción Paraguay

Rents: I found this studio apartment for rent in one of the most popular expat areas of  Ascunción called Las Lomas.  It is advertised today for $450 USD per month for a 12-month lease.  If you rent for a shorter period on Airbnb, it would be much more expensive.  

If you rent a larger apartment long-term, the rent would be higher, starting around $800 USD per month or more, depending on the area and size.  

Here is the process we use to find great apartments.  So, we will show you a table of all expenses in a moment.  We will use $450 USD per month for our lower rent estimate and $800 USD per month for the middle cost of living estimate for expats who want a little more space.  

Utilities: We estimate the year-round average for utilities for the smaller apartment above would be about $50.00 USD per month.  The utilities would cost more for the larger space, starting at around $110 USD per month.  

Groceries:  We estimate about $290 per month for groceries for the two of us.  Other expats are likely to purchase more imported foods from their home country, spending more than $380 per month on groceries.  

Restaurants:  We would eat out twice per week in local-style restaurants ranging from about $6 to $9.00 USD per meal per person, and one or two splurges per month of $12 to $18 USD per meal per person.  If you add it all up, we would spend around $180 per month on restaurants for the two of us. We may have a beer here and there, but that is covered below in alcohol.  

Other expats are likely to eat more often at expensive restaurants and very little, if any, times in local-style restaurants, so they would likely spend more like $280 per month for 2 people in restaurants.  It is lifestyle-dependent.

Cell Phone Data: The cost to get a prepaid Antel SIM card for your unlocked smartphone is about $11 USD per month.  

Other expat couples are likely to buy two prepaid SIM cards so they would spend $22 USD per month.  

Laundry: Unfurnished apartments in Paraguay rarely come with clothes-washing machines.  You can buy a new washing machine for about $300 USD, and the laundry detergent is included in our groceries bill.

Drinking Water: We bought RO drinking water from the grocery store while in Paraguay.  But if we retired here, we would buy a water filtration unit for the kitchen.  The price for a decent unit starts at around $300 USD.  The replacement filters are around $100 per year, so we estimate about $9 per month after we purchase the unit.  

Internet: 100 Mbps in-home wifi is about $20 USD per month.

Transportation: All of our daily needs, including groceries, shopping, restaurants, coffee shops, and nightlife, would be within a 20-minute walk. 

We may take an Uber home at night or to the grocery store twice a week, averaging about $4 per ride or $32 per month.  We would also ride public transportation (air-conditioned buses) a few times per month to enjoy other parts of the city at about $0.45 USD each way per person.  So we would spend about $44.00 per month on transportation.  

Other retirees may want to pay cash for a used car, but would still need to pay another $250 per month or more for gasoline, repairs, and insurance.

Alcohol (Optional): Domestic beers are abot $0.70 USD in grocery stores.  In bars and restaurants, domestic beers are around $1.50 to $3 USD.   So, we estimate about $100 per month for the two of us.

Many other expats would spend more on imported foreign or craft beers in convenience stores, bars, and restaurants, so we estimate about $250 USD per month for 2 people, assuming they do not drink imported whiskey or wine.  

Entertainment (Optional):  We would budget about $200 per month for the two of us.  We generally enjoy doing more do-it-yourself kinds of entertainment, so other expats would spend a little more, maybe $300 per month, for 2 of them.

Basic Costs to Retire in Ascunción Paraguay

After discussing the cost of living here, I will share information on visas, residency, real estate, walkability, healthcare, and safety.  The first link in the first comments below this video has details about how I arrived at each of these line-item costs.  

We gathered this data with our feet on the ground here in January of 2026, so adjust for inflation after that.  The above lower cost of living estimate would apply if the two of us lived here on a tight budget.  The middle estimate is just an example of what more typical expat couples might spend if they moved here.  

So, what would it cost you to live in Ascunción, Paraguay?

To understand what it would cost you to live here, you must put your feet on the ground, see how you would choose to live, eat, and entertain yourself, and add it all up.  It doesn’t matter what anyone else spends because we are all different.  

You should also add anything to the above table that you spend money on in your home country that is not listed in the above table.  Presumably, you find those things necessary in life.  To do that, visit the Numbeo Ascunción and add anything not mentioned in the above table.  Anything not on Numbeo you should add during your exploratory visit before moving to Ascunción.

Never move anywhere until you have visited first personally to verify the living costs for your lifestyle and needs. I am not guaranteeing these prices. These are just my notes and estimates from the time of my visit and this post. Your costs will likely be drastically different depending on your lifestyle and the time since this post.    

Typical expats’ living costs in Paraguay range from about $500 to $5000 per month, depending on their lifestyle, budget, and city versus rural areas.

Ascunción, Paraguay, Livability Factors

Before you move anywhere outside your home country, make a list of the factors you must have for a happy retirement.  Here are my livability factors, and I will rank each as high, medium, or low before assigning an overall retirement desirability score to Ascunción.  

Walkability:  High.  We stayed in the Recoleta Area.  But anywhere in the walking tour I just gave you would be walkable for us.  In any of those areas, everything would be so centralized that we would rarely need to walk more than 20 minutes to get what we needed for everyday life.  Plus, walking is the healthiest way to stay in shape as we age.  

We jumped on a bus to see other parts of town from time to time.  We also rode Uber taxis from time to time when we were in a hurry.  

Internet:  High.  The in-home wifi in our apartment was 43 Mbps up and 108 Mbps down.  Good enough for us to do Zoom calls, upload YouTube videos, and watch Netflix.  We were also able to use our cell phones as hotspots when we were out of the house together.

Food:  Medium.  The expat restaurants in Ascunción were not as expensive as those in Argentina or Uruguay.  So we would only eat out a few times per month and eat more in local-style restaurants.  We would cook at home mostly, though.  We missed spicy dishes like Mexican, Asian, and other spicy International favorites.  So we would rate the food as medium.  But if you enjoy more moderately spiced foods, the food would probably be rated High for you here.

Weather:  High.  Paraguay is below the equator, so summer starts in November and runs through March.  Summer daytime highs in Asunción average from 94 °F (34 °C) in January down to 75 °F (24 °C) for winter average highs in June.  Nightly summer lows average from 73 °F (23 °C) in January down to 55 °F (13 °C) for winter average nightly lows in July.  The rainy season is mainly November through February, but then April receives the most rain of 6.9 inches (175 mm).

Things to Do:  Medium.  Paraguay is regarded as a culturally rich city, depending on which culture you are focused on.  Ascunción maintains a Western-arts culture with an established venue for symphony, theater, and occasional opera at Teatro Municipal.  Asunción is one of South America’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements and has maintained many of those cultural roots.  Asunción is the birthplace of the Guarania, a musical genre declared a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which originated in Asunción.  And many neighborhoods include the original foods and beverages of the original people.  There is also a thriving music scene with global acts, and revitalized public spaces with interesting things to do at different times of year.  There are large malls, a burgeoning nightlife with rave music, live acoustic music, top 40 dance clubs, sports bars, and gyms.

Social Considerations: Medium.  English is not widely spoken in Paraguay.  You will find some English speakers in tourist-facing businesses, especially in the neighborhoods I show you in my walking tour above.  If you intend to retire here, you should learn some Spanish for a fuller life.   I have met many expats overseas who have used Duolingo, the free language smartphone application, to learn many different languages.  If you are just visiting, become familiar with Google Translate on your smartphone before you arrive.

Safety: High.  The neighborhoods on my above walking map felt safe.  I even walked in these areas alone in the evening and inthe party area at night and didn’t feel a hint of trouble.  In the old town area, there is slightly more crime at night.  

Use Uber taxi to get home at night, and nothing valuable should be in an unsecured pocket or backpack; don’t leave valuables out in the open.   Also, the US State Department issues travel advisories for each part of the world, which you should be aware of.  Read that from time to time to stay up to date.  Paraguay, at the time of this writing, is “Level 1: Use Normal Precautions.” The report does name some areas in Paraguay where you need to use increased caution, and why.  Here are my thoughts on how to stay safe around the world.

Expat Community: Medium.  Here are some Expat Facebook pages 1, 2, and 3 that cater to English-speaking expats living in Paraguay.   These online expat communities are great for learning what expats want to know when they first move overseas.  You will often find that someone has recently answered your questions, so first search for already answered questions before asking in these groups.

Medical: Medium. This healthcare international comparison index ranks Paraguay 88th in the world, 19 places behind the United States, which ranks 69th. There are different ways healthcare is rated, but this one seems to be considering not only the quality of care but also what patients are charged.

I have interviewed a few expats in Paraguay who have experienced the healthcare in Paraguay personally, and had noce things to say about it, especially the costs.  I will put a link to my Paraguay playlist at the end of this video so you can hear their experience.  

Tourist Visa: High.  Citizens of over 80 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, and the EU, and many other Western nations, do not need a visa for tourist visits, many are given 90 days upon entry. Visitors must have a valid passport with at least 6 months before expiration, proof of onward travel, accommodations, proof of funds, and a yellow fever vaccination if traveling to Paraguay from a Yellow fever high-risk area.  When I flew into Ascunción, they only asked me, “How long will you be visiting?”

These conditions change periodically, and sometimes airlines will ask for information that immigration doesn’t check, so check both at the time you fly.

Retirement Visa:  Paraguay offers a retirement residency program for individuals of any age who have a foreign pension or passive income of around 1,400 USD per month or a $70k USD investment.  It starts with temporary residence but can be extended to permanent residency after 2 years, and can lead to citizenship after about 3 to 5 years.

Paraguayan citizenship and a passport are considered a great Plan B, as they currently allow you to enter Europe on a 90-day Schengen Visa exemption. 

You can probably do this yourself, but if you want a lawyer, I would request a referral on one of the Expat Facebook pages I shared above. I would ask the expats for the immigration lawyer they used personally to obtain their residency or citizenship. 

Real Estate: Foreigners can own land in a house on land in Paraguay in their own name at this time.

Great Neighborhood for $81k USD: I found this apartment for sale online today in one of my favorite areas of Ascunción.  It will likely be gone by the time you read this, but use this webpage to find what else is available that may better fit your needs.  

I would not buy real estate in a foreign country until I have lived there for an extended period of time, making sure I love it after the honeymoon period. I have a report explaining what to look out for and why.  

Ascunción, Paraguay, Overall Retirement Desirability Score:  High 

I would give Paraguay a high overall retirement desirability score for the following reasons: (a) low retirement pension requirement, (b) the ability to own a home or condo in your own name, (c) the ability to gain citizenship in 2 to 5 years, (d) and a passport that allows you to enter Europe without applying for a visa in advance.  Ultimately, that high ranking depends on whether you love the life available within your budget, which you will only truly know when you take an exploratory visit here.  

Make sure to grab this free eBook that shares the 1o things I believe you must do before leaving your home country.  And watch the videos here to see the expats we interviewed in Paraguay.  

Where we stayed in Ascunción, Paraguay

We were happy with this Airbnb in the Recoleta area of Asunción.   

Restaurants, Services, Markets

Ascunción Restaurants ($1 USD is 6.6 Paraguay Pesos (P)):  

Services/Markets/Resources

  • Shopping del Sol: Modern Shopping Mall with worldly clothing brands, a food court, and a built-in, fully stocked grocery store.  
  • Shopping Mariscal: Modern Shopping Mall with worldly clothing brands, and a food court.
  • S6-Superseis Grocery Store: A well stocked Grovery store across the street from Mariscal Mall.
  • Paseo La Galería: Shopping Mall with expat-style restaurants.  
  • Public Market: Walk through this area to find individual sellers of fruits, vegetables, clothes, meats, housewares, shoes, pretty much everything.  The Uber taxi over there and back is about $3 USD each way.