Paraguay is quietly working its way toward the OECD, the club of mostly high-income, high-governance economies. In June 2025 it signed a three-year Country Programme with the organization in Paris, and in early 2026 the government declared eventual OECD accession a national interest. For anyone weighing Paraguay as a base, this is a stability signal worth understanding, and it comes with one important caveat about the 0% tax.
Update, 13 September 2026: this item has been corrected. Paraguay works with the OECD through a Country Programme and has not been invited into accession talks, and the public-finance figures now reflect debt of 34.4% of GDP in June 2026 and a deficit that widened after publication.
What Paraguay Actually Agreed With the OECD
The centerpiece is the Programa País (Country Programme), a structured three-year cooperation deal signed in Paris around the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting in June 2025. Economy Minister Carlos Fernández Valdovinos represented Paraguay, and OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann led on the organization's side.
The program is built around five pillars: economic growth, social policy, governance and integrity, the environment, and trade and investment. In practice it is a roadmap of reviews and reforms that align Paraguayan institutions with OECD standards, not membership itself. A Country Programme is a partnership format, not an accession process: joining would require a separate decision by the OECD Council to open accession talks.
The OECD Timeline So Far
Paraguay first signaled interest in 2023. The sequence since then has been steady rather than sudden: a letter in November 2023 asking for a Country Programme, the OECD Council's July 2024 decision inviting Paraguay into one, the programme signed in June 2025, and a national decree on 14 January 2026 declaring eventual accession a matter of national interest.
Momentum continued into 2026 with an investment-focused mission in Asunción on 19 to 21 May. Paraguay is not alone in the region: Argentina and Brazil are further along, as formal accession candidates since 2022, part of a wider Latin American push toward the organization's standards.
Why the Economics Back the Bid
The OECD ambition rests on genuinely strong numbers. Paraguay's economy grew by roughly 6.6% in 2025, among the fastest in South America, and the country now holds investment-grade credit ratings, Baa3 from Moody's and BBB- from S&P.
Public debt is low by regional standards: 41.1% of GDP at the end of 2025 and 34.4% in June 2026, a fall driven largely by the stronger guaraní raising GDP measured in dollars. The deficit is the weaker line. It narrowed to a reported 2% of GDP in 2025, then widened to an annualized 2.6% by mid-2026, with the finance minister expecting about 3.2% for the full year, and the 2027 budget projects 3.9% and requests that Congress suspend the legal cap.
Those figures move, so check a current source. Growth and moderate debt still make the OECD conversation credible, while the deficit is what reviewers will watch.
What OECD Accession Means for the 0% Territorial Tax
Here is the part that matters most to our readers, and it needs to be said plainly. OECD membership does not automatically change Paraguay's territorial tax system. The 0% on genuinely foreign-source income flows from domestic law, Ley 6380/2019, and joining the OECD does not repeal or override it.
Membership is also a distant prospect. Paraguay is not an accession candidate, and for countries that are, the process typically runs for years of reviews across dozens of policy areas, so nothing here changes overnight. The near-term effect is institutional credibility, not a new tax bill.
What you should expect over time is more transparency, not a higher rate. The direction of travel is alignment with international information-exchange norms. Paraguay already exchanges information on request with other tax authorities under the OECD's multilateral convention, in force for it since 1 November 2021 and applied to tax periods from 2022, and it has committed to automatic exchange under the CRS without implementing it yet, with first exchanges scheduled by 2028 on the OECD's status list. Its own crypto-reporting rule, DNIT General Resolution 47/2026, points the same way.
A legitimate, substance-backed residency is the position that ages well as Paraguay integrates further, which is also what the Paraguayan rules themselves point toward. Whether the territorial system survives the next decade is a separate question, and we set out the evidence in Paraguay's tax system.
One caveat sits outside Paraguay's control entirely. US citizens and green-card holders are taxed by the IRS on worldwide income wherever they live, so neither OECD alignment nor Paraguayan residency changes their US position.
Thinking about Paraguay as a stable base? An intro call covers the residency steps and the timeline. Exit-tax questions belong with an adviser in the country you are leaving, and Paraguayan tax questions with one of the local advisers we can introduce. Book a call.
Frequently Asked Questions About Paraguay and the OECD
Is Paraguay a member of the OECD?
No, and it is not an accession candidate either. Paraguay works with the OECD through a three-year Country Programme signed in June 2025, and a January 2026 decree declared eventual accession a national interest. Membership would first need an OECD invitation to open accession talks, followed by years of reviews and reforms.
Does OECD accession change Paraguay's 0% tax?
No, not automatically. The 0% on foreign-source income comes from domestic law (Ley 6380/2019), which OECD membership does not repeal. Over time, expect more transparency and information-exchange alignment (the CRS and crypto-reporting direction) rather than a change to the headline territorial rate.
When will Paraguay join the OECD?
There is no fixed date. Accession processes commonly take several years of country reviews across many policy areas. Paraguay's Country Programme (2025 to 2028) is a preparatory phase, and formal accession negotiations, if opened, would run beyond it. Treat any specific timeline as speculative.
Why is Paraguay pursuing OECD membership?
To lock in credibility. Strong growth (about 6.6% in 2025), investment-grade ratings and moderate public debt give Paraguay a case, and OECD alignment signals institutional stability to investors and partners. Argentina and Brazil are pursuing similar paths in the region.
Disclaimer: This article is general information, not legal, tax, or investment advice. Accession timelines and economic figures change, and tax treatment depends on your situation. Confirm current details with official sources and a qualified adviser before you act.
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About the author
Yannick Schroth
Founder · Paraguay relocation support
Spends regular time in Paraguay and, with his team on the ground in Asunción, guides international nomads, entrepreneurs and investors through residency, the cédula and the RUC paperwork.
