In almost three years of Javier Milei’s government, informality in Argentina reached 45% of workers. The data corresponds to the second quarter of 2026, released this Monday (12) by the Economic and Social Observatory of the National University of Rosario (UNR), based on the Permanent Household Survey (PPD) of Indec (National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina).
The research shows a constant growth in informality in the country, since the beginning of the far-right government. At the end of 2023, the index was 41.4%. Some regions are hardest hit.
Northern Argentina has the highest rates, with an average of 80%. In the capital, informality is 26%, while in the regions around Buenos Aires, it reaches 47.5%.
The regional results explain that stable jobs were most heavily impacted in densely populated industrial belts in addition to more fragile regional economies.
The increase in informal employment in Argentina is part of a recessive macroeconomic scenario characterized by fiscal adjustment, a drop in domestic consumption and the deregulation of economic activities promoted by the Javier Milei administration.
The expansion of precarious employment is directly correlated with structural transformations in the composition of employment. Between 2023 and 2026, the share of salaried workers in total employment decreased, falling from 73.7% to 70.5%. While unregistered self-employment expanded from 22.6% to 25.5%.
According to the survey, 65.8% of urban self-employed workers work informally. Among those who receive fixed remuneration, 37.9% do not have benefits.
Domestic service tops the list of activities with the highest incidence of informal employment, with a rate of 77.4%. In second place is civil construction, with 76.2%. In the hotel and restaurant sector, informality reaches 63.9%, and in commerce, 54.7%.
The situation occurs after three years of implementation of the Milei government’s Chainsaw Plan, whose justification was to solve the problems of the Argentine economy, including inflation and bureaucracy.
Among the measures, the reduction of public works was applied; cutting subsidies for energy (gas and electricity) and transport (train and bus fares); currency devaluation and reduction in federal transfers to the provinces.
Almost three years later, in addition to the closure of companies, the country has more than 30% of the population in poverty and a growing rate of informal workers.
The economic coordinator of the Bolsonarist campaign, Daniella Marques, has already stated that the PL senator’s government plan is inspired by the changes made by the Milei government.
“We are going to draw inspiration from what was done by the government of Javier Milei, in Argentina”, said Marques during an Esfera Brasil event, in September.
According to her, Milei is a “great example” in terms of being able to once again attract investments, reduce bureaucracy and taxes.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
