Paraguay isn’t exactly ‘on the radar,’ so to speak. Most people who research living overseas usually end up in the hyped up places like Panama, Costa Rica, or even Ecuador. Those places are fine and good, but Paraguay may truly be a hidden gem for many.

Like Ecuador, you can live well in Paraguay on a very modest budget, almost to the point that it’s obscene.  Unlike Ecuador, however, which seems ‘frozen in time,’ Paraguay’s economy is at a turning point. I think it’s in the same position as Panama was about 10-years ago.

Quick background– in 1977, US President Jimmy Carter signed a series of treaties with Panama’s Omar Torrijos in which the United States agreed to hand over control of the Panama Canal to the Panamanians on December 31, 1999.

The US had a long-standing influence in Panama, stationing thousands of troops and injecting billions of dollars into the economy. With the subsequent withdrawal of the US military in the late 1990s, Panama lost a major economic workhorse.