Paraguay’s booming Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) sector is heavily concentrated in Asunción and the surrounding metropolitan areas, according to new data. A total of ninety-one percent of these economic units are microenterprises, with a total of 215,662, while small and medium-sized enterprises total 16,653 and 4,336, respectively, reports the Formalisation Bulletin of the Vice Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises.
Nationally, the capital and central regions contain a total of 236,600 economic units, of which more than 90% are microenterprises, while small and medium-sized enterprises make up a smaller proportion, according to the latest report on the situation of MSMEs.
The document details that the country’s capital, Asunción, is home to approximately 88,378 MSMEs, representing 19.63% of the national business community. The distribution of the business community by category indicates that microenterprises represent 78,476 economic units, representing 88.8% of the total; followed by 7,662 small businesses, representing 8.67%, and 2,240 medium-sized enterprises, representing 2.53%.
It’s worth mentioning that official data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) for 2022 reported a population of 462,241 inhabitants for Asunción, representing 7.57% of the country’s total population.
Regarding formalisation levels, 17.60% of these economic units remain registered with the Social Security Institute, while 14.08% have completed the full formalisation process, meeting the registration requirements with both the IPS and the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security.
MSME’s in the Central Department
The Central department is home to approximately 148,222 MSMEs, representing 32.93% of the national business community. According to the National Statistics Institute, the department was home to 1,883,927 inhabitants by 2022, representing 30.83% of the country’s total population.
Regarding the distribution of the business community by category in this department, the Formalisation Bulletin indicates that microenterprises represent 137,186 economic units, accounting for 92.55% of the total.
Small businesses, on the other hand, are to a lesser extent, accounting for 6% of the total, with a total of 8,991 businesses. Meanwhile, around 2,045 are medium-sized businesses, representing 1.38% of the area’s business network.
Regarding formalisation levels, 10.07% of these economic units remain registered with the Social Security Institute, while 7.94% have completed the full formalisation process, meeting the registration requirements with both the IPS and the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security, according to data from the Formalisation Bulletin of the Vice Ministry of MSMEs.
A growing network of entrepreneurs in Asunción
Among the large number of start-up business in Paraguay generally, the capital Asunción is increasingly attracting foreign investors, digital nomad entrepreneurs, and Paraguayans who are returning from overseas to start businesses – with the vast majority of these groups speaking English.
Any English-speaking entrepreneurs who are based in, or connected to Asunción, are invited to join the recently-established Asunción Entrepreneurs Network, which seeks to bring together entrepreneurs and help foster a cooperative environment where entrepreneurs of all types can help each other to succeed. Join the WhatsApp community here.
