Is Paraguay Safe?

Safety is usually the first thing people ask about before moving to Paraguay. The honest answer uses official numbers: on violent crime, Paraguay is one of the calmer countries in the region. On everyday property crime and scams, expats need normal urban street sense. Here is what the data and the resident experience actually show.

What the Crime Numbers Say

Paraguay recorded 391 murders in 2025, a rate of about 6.1 per 100,000, down 18.6 percent from 477 the year before. Property-crime trends rose sharply in the early 2020s and then reversed in 2024, with robberies down about 11 percent and theft down about 15 percent year on year.

How Paraguay Compares to the Region

Rates are 2025 figures from InSight Crime's regional round-up. For many expats leaving a higher-crime country, this comparison is the single most reassuring data point.

Why Paraguay's Numbers Look Better Than the Headlines

Casual safety writeups about Paraguay often lean on a single scary data point: the country ranks around fourth globally on the Global Organized Crime Index. The framing matters, because that ranking measures criminal markets, not the everyday violent-crime risk a resident faces. Paraguay scores high there because of smuggling and contraband markets concentrated near borders, and because it is a transit route for narcotics heading into Brazil and beyond. Those are real criminal-economy facts, but they are not the threat an expat in Villa Morra or a retiree in Encarnacion encounters at the grocery store.

The honest reading is that Paraguay has two crime stories layered on top of each other. One is a border-and-trafficking story that drives the organized-crime index and the higher advisory level on the northeast. The other is a day-to-day urban property-crime story, pickpocketing, bag-snatching, opportunistic theft, that affects residents in the capital but is overwhelmingly non-violent. OSAC puts it directly: crime in Paraguay is generally non-violent, even though edged weapons and firearms are present in some robberies and can therefore cause serious harm.

Conflating the two stories is the most common analytical mistake in this space. For a relocation decision, the second story is the one that shapes daily life, and it is the one this page focuses on.

What the Day-to-Day Risk Actually Looks Like

OSAC's trend data tells a more useful story than a single year's homicide count. Between 2021 and 2023, robberies rose about 31 percent, aggravated theft about 84 percent, and general thefts about 87 percent, a sharp early-2020s climb that drove much of the negative expat sentiment online. The 2024 data reversed that trend, with robberies down about 11 percent, aggravated theft down about 16 percent, and general thefts down about 15 percent year on year. The picture for 2025 is the calmer one reflected in the homicide figure above.

The signature street pattern is the motochorros, pairs of thieves on a motorcycle who target individuals both in daylight and after dark, typically for bags, phones, and visible valuables. OSAC records instances where victims who resisted or tried to escape were injured or killed. The standing advice from security analysts is consistent: hand over valuables rather than fight. Resisting a robbery is the main mechanism by which a non-violent property crime becomes a violent one.

Armed robbery, carjacking, car theft, and home invasion are reported in both urban and rural areas, and pickpocketing and mugging are prevalent in cities. The realistic defense is street sense, not avoidance: keep phones and bags out of sight in busy areas and on transit, prefer bank-lobby ATMs over street machines, and treat the historic center and riverbank as daytime destinations.

The Border Departments, In Plain Terms

The Level 2 advisory on the five northeastern departments is not a country-wide warning. It is a targeted one. Alto Paraná, Amambay, Canindeyú, Concepción, and San Pedro sit along the Brazilian border, where criminal groups move weapons, drugs, and other goods and where the police presence is thinner than in the rest of the country. The State Department's reasoning is smuggling and reduced policing, not random violence against visitors.

Amambay, and Pedro Juan Caballero in particular, is the most violent department in the country, driven by drug trafficking and the activity of Brazilian organized crime groups. Earlier InSight Crime reporting put Amambay's murder rate far above the national average, which is the historical context for why it carries the higher advisory. The Ciudad del Este triple frontier carries a strong reputation for contraband and counterfeiting, but organized-crime analysts note that violence against ordinary visitors there is comparatively low.

A separate, much smaller factor is the EPP (Ejercito del Pueblo Paraguayo), a degraded group of fewer than 20 members confined to remote parts of Concepción, San Pedro, and Amambay. It has kidnapped ranchers and a former vice president over the years, but it is not a risk to expats in Asuncion or in normal residential areas, and it is mentioned here only as institutional context for the Level 2 departments, not as a resident-safety threat.

How Policing and Response Actually Work

An honest safety page has to acknowledge the institutional context, because it changes how residents think about prevention. OSAC reports that the Policia Nacional suffers from a serious, ongoing lack of resources and training, that investigations rarely result in successful apprehension, and that corruption remains a problem within the force. The national emergency number is 911, operated by the Policia Nacional.

The practical implication is that prevention matters more than response. If a robbery or a theft happens, the realistic expectation is a report for insurance or for a replacement document, not a rapid recovery of property. This is why residents in upmarket areas invest in private security, why gated communities are the norm for higher-end residential life, and why the scams section below treats awareness as the main defense. The institutional gap is also why residents rely on private healthcare, private transport, and private security rather than public services for the things that matter most.

None of this makes Paraguay unusually dangerous by regional standards; it makes the prevention layer more consequential. The expats who live comfortably here are the ones who treat security as a daily habit, not an afterthought.

Residential Security Norms for Expats

Residential security in upmarket Asuncion and its surrounds is not an optional upgrade; it is the standard. The norm for foreign residents is a secure building with concierge and controlled access, or a house inside a gated community or barrio cerrado with 24-hour private security. This is consistent with OSAC's HIGH-threat crime assessment for Asuncion overall, even though the crime itself is generally non-violent.

The San Bernardino area, in the Cordillera department just outside the capital, is the major hub for barrios cerrados, with named developments offering 24-hour security and restricted access. Similar gated stock exists around greater Asuncion. Retirees and families who choose this route report feeling generally safe, often layering private security, alarms, and dogs on top of the perimeter. Further south, Encarnación is consistently described as a calmer alternative, with petty crime as the main concern rather than the property-crime cycle of the capital.

The takeaway for a relocation plan is to budget for residential security from the start, the way you would budget for healthcare or schooling. The cost of a gated community or a secure building is part of the cost of living safely in Paraguay, not an emergency response to a problem.

How to Read Crime Statistics About Paraguay

Not every number that circulates about Paraguay crime is a government statistic, and the difference matters for a relocation decision. The homicide figures used here are drawn from InSight Crime's regional round-up, which is methodologically transparent and internally consistent, and they line up with the UNODC-vetted series and the long-run Macrotrends trend. Treat them as reliable snapshots.

Crowdsourced numbers are a different category. Numbeo's Asuncion crime index, often shared in expat groups, is self-reported resident survey data, not a police or ministry statistic. It is useful as a sentiment read on how residents themselves feel about crime, but it does not measure the same thing as an official homicide count and should not be compared to one as if it did. We label it explicitly on this page for that reason.

A simple rule: if a source mixes government homicide data with crowdsourced sentiment indices without labeling which is which, treat the comparison with caution. The honest framing here separates official data from survey data, and separates everyday violent crime from border-region criminal markets, so you can reason about the risk that actually applies to your situation.

Where Expats Feel Safe in Asuncion

OSAC rates Asuncion a high-threat city for crime overall, but it is careful to note the crime is generally non-violent. Where you live and walk makes a large difference.

Further south, Encarnación has a calmer reputation and draws retirees looking for a quieter base. Residential security in upmarket areas typically relies on private guards and gated developments.

The Everyday Crime to Actually Watch

The realistic threats are non-violent and opportunistic. Motochorros, thieves on motorcycles working in pairs, are a well-known pattern in Asuncion and target people both day and night. Resisting a robbery is the main way people get hurt, so the standard advice is to hand over valuables rather than fight.

Scams That Target Newcomers

Most scams aimed at foreigners are non-violent and rely on you being new. Awareness is the defense. The pattern that catches the most expats is paying upfront for residency paperwork to someone who is not a verified, licensed professional.

If you are evaluating help with residency, our page on choosing an agent covers how to separate legitimate providers from the rest.

The Northeastern Border and the Triple Frontier

The US State Department raises its advisory to Level 2 for five departments near the Brazilian border, namely Alto Paraná, Amambay, Canindeyú, Concepción, and San Pedro. The reason given is smuggling activity and thinner police presence rather than random violence against visitors.

Amambay, and Pedro Juan Caballero in particular, is the country's most violent department, driven by drug trafficking and the activity of Brazilian organized crime groups. The Ciudad del Este triple frontier carries a strong reputation for contraband, but organized-crime analysts note that violence against ordinary visitors there is comparatively low. If you are relocating to Asuncion or the south, this context is informational rather than a daily concern.

Safety for Retirees and Families

Retirees and families tend to cluster in the safer, better-policed neighborhoods and in gated developments where private security is standard. The practical pattern is straightforward: live in a secure building or gated community, keep valuables out of sight, use trusted transport, and treat the historic center as a daytime destination. Compared with the countries many retirees are leaving, day-to-day safety in the right Asuncion neighborhoods is broadly comparable or better.

For the broader living picture, see living in Paraguay and our residency for retirees page.

Frequently Asked Questions

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