Poverty in Argentina rose again and reached 32.3% of the population of 31 urban agglomerations in the country in the first half of 2026, which represents 9.7 million people, against 28.2% recorded in the previous half. These regions concentrate 30.1 million Argentines, the majority of the population.
The official data was published this Thursday (24) by the National Institute of Statistical Data (Indec).
At the beginning of Javier Milei’s government, poverty grew from 41.7%, in the 2nd half of 2023, to 52.9% of the population, in the 2nd half of 2024.
Since then, the indicator that measures poverty in the neighboring country had been falling until reaching 28% last year, being presented as one of the Milei government’s trump cards.
The increase in poverty in the country is accompanied by the closure of companies and jobs and the drop in economic activity measured by Indec, which ended July with a decline of 2.9% compared to June.
The number of poor people classified as “below the indigence line” also grew, going from 6.3% in the 2nd half of 2025 to 7.5% in the 1st half of 2026, which is equivalent to 2.2 million people.
Indec’s poverty data refers to 31 urban regions of the country and is measured according to families’ ability to purchase the basic food basket and the total basic basket, which includes expenses such as housing, transport and clothing.
“On average, per capita family income increased by 11.5%. Average regional baskets increased by 21.4% (Basic Food Basket) and 19.6% (Total Basic Basket)”, says Indec.
The National Statistics Institute of Argentina also highlights that the majority of poor people, 44.5% of the total, are children and adolescents up to 14 years old.
Government comments
On social media, the Argentine government’s Economy Minister, Luis Caputo, minimized the increase in poverty.
“Although poverty and indigence rates increased by 4.1 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points compared to the previous semester, both rates registered a strong drop compared to the first semester of 2024”, he pondered.
Regarding the drop in economic activity in July of 2.9%, Caputo highlighted that, in the year to date, the data is still positive, with growth of 1.7% in the first seven months of the year.
The drop in economic activity in July was attributed by the minister to “several transitory shocks that affected several sectors of activity”.
“Mention can be made of the lower availability of gas in the case of the manufacturing industry; the greater rainfall and snowfall in relation to historical averages, for construction, mining and some services; and the lower hours worked in some sectors in relation to the Football World Cup”, explained the minister.
Source: www.brasildefato.com.br
