Argentina Faces Dollar Shortage as More Citizens Travel Abroad and Fewer Tourists Visit

Argentina is facing a growing problem: more of its citizens are traveling and spending money abroad, while fewer tourists are coming into the country and spending dollars.

This is causing a shortage of dollars, which Argentina needs to pay its debts and keep its economy stable. Official data from Argentina’s statistics agency show that in February 2025, nearly 1.8 million Argentines traveled outside the country.

This is almost double the number from a year earlier. At the same time, only about 494,000 foreign tourists visited Argentina, which is a drop of almost one-third compared to last year.

This means that for every foreign tourist coming in, almost four Argentines are going out. This trend is draining dollars from Argentina’s economy. The central bank reports that in the past eleven months, $12.3 billion more left the country than came in.

Most of this money left because Argentines spent it abroad on travel, tickets, and purchases with credit cards. In April 2025 alone, the country lost $860 million this way, the highest for that month since 2018.

The government, led by President Javier Milei, has made it easier for people to buy dollars and travel. The Argentine peso has also become stronger, which makes foreign trips cheaper for Argentines.

Argentina’s Growing Tourism Deficit Undermines Dollar Reserves

However, this also means that Argentina is more expensive for foreign tourists, so fewer are visiting. For example, official figures from Uruguay show that Uruguayans spent $469 million less in Argentina in 2024 than in 2023, and visitor numbers from Uruguay dropped by almost half.

This is not a new problem. Over the past ten years, Argentina’s tourism sector has lost almost $30 billion, as more money leaves the country through travel than comes in from foreign visitors. In 2023, the tourism deficit was $1.5 billion, according to a respected economic foundation.

The situation is getting worse. Experts predict that Argentina’s total current account deficit—the gap between money coming in and going out—will be 1.6% of the country’s total economic output in 2025, up from earlier estimates.

The central bank’s reserves, which are supposed to back up the country’s currency and pay debts, are at $38.7 billion, but most of this money is already committed to paying off loans.

Argentina’s government faces a tough challenge. It wants to allow people to travel and spend freely, but it also needs to keep enough dollars in the country to avoid another financial crisis.

The ongoing loss of dollars through tourism shows how difficult it is for Argentina to balance these needs and keep its economy stable.