How Paraguay Wins
Paraguay scores lower than the major Western countries relocation-minded readers most often compare — meaning fewer restrictions across the measured categories:
- • Food policy: No sugar taxes, no broad food advertising restrictions — unlike the UK, France, Australia, and Canada.
- • Smoking & safer nicotine: Far fewer restrictions than Australia (prescription-only vaping, flavor bans), Canada (comprehensive bans), or New Zealand (strict vaping rules).
- • Alcohol: Lower alcohol policy restrictions than the UK (minimum pricing, high spirits duty) and Australia (high excise).
- • Overall: Fewer layered lifestyle restrictions than the UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States (once state-level restrictions are included).
What the 2025 Nanny Index Measures
The Nanny State Index measures how heavily governments regulate four categories of legal consumer products: alcohol, food and soft drinks, smoking, and safer nicotine. Higher scores mean more restrictions. Lower scores mean more freedom.
The official 2025 edition weights alcohol and food and soft drinks at 33.3 percent each, then splits nicotine into smoking and safer nicotine at 16.7 percent each. The framework is designed to capture policies that raise prices, restrict choice, limit information, reduce product quality, or make ordinary adult behavior more difficult.
This page uses the official 2025 Nanny State Index data for the original 29 European countries and adds Paraguay, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand using the same scoring framework. Official scores and modeled additions are labeled separately throughout the page.
Lower score = more freedom. Official 2025 index legal-status cutoff: February 1, 2025. Expanded modeled additions should use the same cutoff unless explicitly noted.
Paraguay vs Major Western Countries
This is the core comparison most readers care about. Paraguay's expanded-model score is lower than the UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, meaning Paraguay scores as less restrictive on the mix of policies captured by the index.
This chart shows total Nanny State Index scores across the measured categories. Paraguay's lower score indicates fewer restrictions on alcohol, food, smoking, and safer nicotine products compared to the selected Western countries.
Custom Country Comparison
Select countries to compare (2-6). Paraguay is preselected.
Compare Paraguay With
Select a country to see how Paraguay compares in detail — total score gap, biggest category differences, and key policy differentiators.
How Much Freer Is Paraguay?
This chart shows how many points lower Paraguay scores compared to each major Western country. A bigger gap means Paraguay has fewer scored restrictions in that comparison.
Points show how much lower Paraguay's score is. Australia shows the largest gap at 20.6 points, driven by strict nicotine and smoking policies.
Why Paraguay Scores Lower: Category Breakdown
This chart shows how each category contributes to the total score. Paraguay's advantage comes from lower scores across all categories — particularly food policy and smoking restrictions.
Stacked bars show each category's contribution to the total score. The shorter the bar, the freer the country in that category.
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Expanded 34-Country Comparison
The full table below combines the official 2025 Nanny State Index rankings with our modeled additions for Paraguay and four major Anglosphere comparison countries. Paraguay is highlighted for quick scanning.
| Restriction Rank | Country | Alcohol | Safer Nicotine | Food | Smoking | Total | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkey | 21.7 | 13.8 | 1.7 | 10 | 47.2 | Official |
| 2 | Lithuania | 18.8 | 10.9 | 3 | 10.1 | 42.8 | Official |
| 3 | Finland | 15.2 | 8.9 | 1.6 | 12.1 | 37.8 | Official |
| 4 | Hungary | 4.5 | 9.8 | 9.6 | 13.5 | 37.5 | Official |
| 5 | Ireland | 17.7 | 2.2 | 4.5 | 12.5 | 36.9 | Official |
| 6 | Australia | 7.7 | 12.7 | 1.3 | 13.4 | 35.1 | Modeled |
| 7 | Latvia | 10.5 | 9.2 | 4.1 | 10.4 | 34.2 | Official |
| 8 | United Kingdom | 7 | 2.3 | 7.4 | 15 | 31.7 | Official |
| 9 | New Zealand | 9.3 | 7.7 | 1 | 13 | 31 | Modeled |
| 10 | Poland | 9.1 | 5.2 | 7.7 | 8.5 | 30.5 | Official |
| 11 | Canada | 9.3 | 7.2 | 1.7 | 11.4 | 29.6 | Modeled |
| 12 | Estonia | 12 | 7.2 | 0 | 9.4 | 28.6 | Official |
| 13 | Sweden | 15.8 | 4.6 | 1 | 6.4 | 27.8 | Official |
| 14 | France | 8.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 12.3 | 26.7 | Official |
| 15 | Netherlands | 5 | 8.8 | 0 | 12 | 25.8 | Official |
| 16 | Slovenia | 7.4 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 9.7 | 25.7 | Official |
| 17 | Croatia | 7.1 | 4.6 | 2 | 9.6 | 23.3 | Official |
| 18 | Romania | 5.3 | 5.1 | 0 | 12.2 | 22.6 | Official |
| 19 | Greece | 4.6 | 6.1 | 0 | 10.7 | 21.4 | Official |
| 20 | Slovakia | 3.5 | 5 | 3.6 | 9 | 21.1 | Official |
| 21 | Belgium | 1.8 | 7.1 | 1.2 | 10.4 | 20.5 | Official |
| 22 | Portugal | 5.2 | 5.1 | 2.4 | 7.7 | 20.4 | Official |
| 23 | Cyprus | 4.7 | 6.5 | 0 | 7.9 | 19.1 | Official |
| 23 | Denmark | 1.9 | 5.7 | 2.7 | 8.8 | 19.1 | Official |
| 25 | Bulgaria | 4.1 | 3.3 | 0 | 10.2 | 17.6 | Official |
| 26 | Austria | 6 | 4.8 | 0 | 6.6 | 17.4 | Official |
| 27 | Malta | 5.8 | 3.3 | 0 | 7.9 | 17 | Official |
| 28 | United States | 5.3 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 6.3 | 16.1 | Modeled |
| 29 | Spain | 4 | 3.3 | 1 | 7.6 | 15.9 | Official |
| 30 | Czechia | 2.7 | 3.2 | 0 | 8.6 | 14.5 | Official |
| 30 | Paraguay | 4.3 | 3.5 | 0.7 | 6 | 14.5 | Modeled |
| 32 | Italy | 3.8 | 2 | 0.7 | 7 | 13.5 | Official |
| 33 | Luxembourg | 3.7 | 4 | 0 | 4.7 | 12.4 | Official |
| 34 | Germany | 2.4 | 4.1 | 0 | 5.2 | 11.7 | Official |
Sort by total score, compare category scores, and use the status column to distinguish official entries from modeled additions. Lower score = more freedom. Rank 1 = most restrictive. Rank 34 = most free.
Key Policy Differences: Yes or No
These binary indicators show where Paraguay takes a different approach to regulation compared to major Western countries. A "No" does not mean a country is entirely free of restrictions — it means that particular policy is less restrictive or absent.
| Policy | Paraguay | Australia | New Zealand | UK | Canada | France | US |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar tax on soft drinks | |||||||
| Minimum alcohol pricing | |||||||
| Plain packaging (tobacco) | |||||||
| Flavor vape ban | |||||||
| Prescription-only nicotine vaping | |||||||
| Broad food advertising restrictions | |||||||
| High alcohol excise taxes |
Where Paraguay Scores Better
Paraguay's advantage is not based on one policy alone. It comes from a lighter overall stack of restrictions across multiple categories. The charts below show where the biggest differences appear when Paraguay is compared with the UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States.
Alcohol
What drives the alcohol policy differences?
- • Paraguay has no minimum pricing and low excise taxes on alcohol.
- • The UK has high spirits duty and minimum unit pricing in Scotland and Wales.
- • Australia, Canada, and New Zealand all have higher alcohol taxes than Paraguay.
So what: This means everyday drinking costs less in Paraguay, with fewer regulatory layers around pricing and availability.
Safer Nicotine
Why do safer nicotine scores vary so widely?
- • Australia has the world's strictest vaping rules (prescription-only, flavor bans).
- • New Zealand and Canada have strict flavor and product restrictions on vaping.
- • The UK has moderate vaping regulations but still stricter than Paraguay.
So what: Paraguay offers more options for adult smokers seeking lower-risk nicotine alternatives without heavy regulatory barriers.
Food & Soft Drinks
What explains the food policy gap?
- • Paraguay has no sugar taxes or significant food sin taxes.
- • The UK has broad sugar taxes and food advertising restrictions.
- • Australia and Canada have provincial/state-level sugar taxes.
So what: Food and grocery shopping in Paraguay is less subject to state intervention through taxation and marketing rules.
Smoking
How do smoking restrictions compare?
- • Australia has plain packaging, very high tobacco taxes, and extensive public bans.
- • New Zealand and Canada have comprehensive smoking bans and high taxes.
- • The UK has very high tobacco taxes and broad smoke-free laws.
So what: Adult smokers in Paraguay face fewer legal restrictions on where they can smoke and what products they can access.
These charts show how Paraguay and comparison countries score within each category. Click "Why this category matters" to expand an explanation of the key policy differences driving the scores.
Alcohol Policy: Fewer Layers of Everyday Restriction
The short version: Paraguay does not pile on the same density of alcohol controls — heavy taxation, minimum pricing, advertising restrictions, retail monopolies — seen in the UK, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
Paraguay is not a zero-regulation country on alcohol, but it still looks relatively light compared with many Western systems. The strongest point is not that Paraguay has no rules. It is that it does not pile on the same density of controls seen elsewhere, such as heavy taxation, minimum pricing, extensive advertising restrictions, retail monopolies, and stricter sales constraints.
That difference matters in ordinary life. In more restrictive systems, the cumulative effect shows up in higher prices, narrower product choice, and a more managed retail environment. Paraguay's lower score suggests a lighter touch overall.
Food and Soft Drinks: One of Paraguay's Clearest Advantages
The short version: Paraguay has no sugar taxes or significant food sin taxes, unlike the UK, France, Australia, and Canada — making this one of the clearest category advantages.
Food and soft-drink policy is one of the clearest areas where Paraguay looks relatively free. Many higher-scoring countries have moved beyond tobacco and alcohol into sugar taxes, food taxes, advertising controls, vending restrictions, energy-drink restrictions, and tighter rules around promotion or placement.
Paraguay's environment appears materially less interventionist on this front. That matters because food regulation affects mainstream family life, not just narrow consumer categories. When a country scores low here, it usually means fewer state efforts to steer everyday grocery decisions through pricing, display, or marketing restrictions.
Smoking and Safer Nicotine: Paraguay Is Not Laissez-Faire, but Still Freer Than Many Peers
The short version: Australia has the world's strictest vaping rules (prescription-only, flavor bans), while New Zealand, Canada, and the UK all have significantly more restrictions than Paraguay on lower-risk nicotine alternatives.
This is the area where nuance matters most. Paraguay is not a nicotine free-for-all. It still has tobacco controls, smoke-free rules, and other restrictions that count in the index. The point is not that Paraguay is unusually permissive in absolute terms. The point is that it is still materially less restrictive than many Western peers, especially where those peers have added plain packaging, more punitive taxes, broader public-use bans, flavor restrictions, disposable-vape bans, pharmacy access models, or stronger suppression of lower-risk nicotine products.
That makes Paraguay's position more credible, not less. The page does not depend on pretending Paraguay has no regulation. It depends on showing that Paraguay has fewer overlapping restrictions than many of the countries people are actively considering leaving.
Why Paraguay Compares So Well With the UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the US
Paraguay's appeal in this comparison is practical. Many people looking at relocation are not asking whether a country is perfect. They are asking whether life there feels less controlled, less moralized, and less burdened by layered consumer restrictions.
On this measure, Paraguay compares well against the large Western countries most often in the relocation conversation. The UK and France score much higher in the official 2025 table. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand also score substantially higher in the expanded model. Even the United States, which often looks relatively permissive at first glance, scores above Paraguay once state-level restrictions are accounted for in a framework consistent with how geographically partial restrictions are treated elsewhere in the index.
That does not make Paraguay the freest country in the world. It does make Paraguay one of the strongest freedom alternatives for people comparing it with the modern Anglosphere and highly regulated Western European systems.
Who Still Scores Freer Than Paraguay
Three European countries score lower than Paraguay, and one is tied with it — meaning they have equal or fewer scored restrictions on the measured categories:
These four countries score lower than Paraguay in the official 2025 table. However, they are not the countries most commonly compared in relocation discussions — and Paraguay still compares favorably against the larger Western countries readers here typically consider.
Why This Matters for Relocation Decisions
Relocation is not only about visas, taxes, and cost of living. It is also about how a country treats normal adult choices in everyday life. Some countries have become progressively more interventionist through excise taxes, packaging rules, advertising bans, restrictions on promotions, and broader efforts to regulate legal products through a public-health lens.
Paraguay still regulates. But compared with many richer Western systems, it remains less layered, less interventionist, and less managerial in day-to-day consumer life. For readers who care about lifestyle freedom as part of a broader relocation decision, that is a meaningful differentiator.
If you are comparing Paraguay with the UK, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or the United States, the next step is to compare lifestyle freedom alongside residency options, tax planning, and long-term optionality.
Source
Data from the Institute of Economic Affairs' Nanny State Index, with modeled additions for Paraguay, USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand using the same framework. See the original PDF for the full official report.