ARGENTINA · ECONOMY
Key Facts
- —What happened INDEC said 32.3% of people in Argentina’s main cities were poor in the first half of 2026.
- —How big a jump That is up 4.1 points from 28.2% in late 2025, the lowest level since early 2018.
- —Why it rose Household income per person rose 11.5%, while the cost of the poverty-line basket rose nearly 20%.
- —The catch Poverty is still far below the 52.9% peak of early 2024, which the government stresses.
- —Who it hits Among children aged up to 14, 44.5% live in poor households.
- —What comes next The Catholic University of Argentina warns poverty could reach about 35% by the end of 2026.
The Argentina poverty rate rose for the first time in two years, as prices for basics outran incomes in early 2026.
Poverty in Argentina rose sharply in the first half of 2026, official data showed on Thursday. The Argentina poverty rate reached 32.3% of people in the main urban areas, up from 28.2% six months earlier.
Projected onto the whole country, that is about 15.6 million people, according to an Infobae estimate. Indigence, meaning people who cannot afford a basic food basket, rose from 6.3% to 7.5%.
Argentina Poverty Rate: The Numbers
INDEC measures poverty in 31 urban areas through its permanent household survey. There, 9.7 million people lived below the poverty line in the first half of the year.
Measured by households rather than people, 24.4% were poor. The share of people in poverty was slightly above the 31.6% of early 2025, a change INDEC calls statistically insignificant.
Indigence reached 5.6% of households and 7.5% of people, or 2.25 million in the surveyed areas. Projected nationally, that is about 3.6 million people.
Infobae estimates that about 2.05 million more people nationwide fell below the line than in late 2025. In the surveyed areas alone, the count rose by about 1.26 million.
What It Takes to Stay Above the Line
In August, a family of four in Greater Buenos Aires needed 1,605,497 pesos (US$1,057) a month to stay above the poverty line. INDEC’s model family is two adults and two children aged 6 and 8.
The food-only basket for that family cost 726,469 pesos (US$478). A household earning less than that counts as indigent.
Both baskets rose 2.6% in August alone. Over the past 12 months, the poverty-line basket rose 38.3%.
Why Poverty Rose Again
The main reason is simple: prices for essentials rose faster than incomes. Household income per person grew 11.5% in the first half.
Over the same period, the cost of the basket that defines the poverty line rose nearly 20%. The food basket, which sets the indigence line, rose even faster, at 21.4%.
Officials told financial daily Ámbito that a jump in inflation in March and April drove the rise. The UCA says food and basic services have outpaced general prices since late 2025.
Jobs are the other pressure. Unemployment rose to 7.9% in the second quarter, matching early 2025 as the highest level since 2021.
Argentina has lost nearly 250,000 private-sector payroll jobs since just before Milei took office, Bloomberg reported. In an AtlasIntel poll for Bloomberg, 70% of Argentines described the job market as bad.
On the same day, INDEC reported that economic activity fell 2.9% in July from June. That was the steepest monthly drop since the pandemic.
Who Is Hit Hardest
Children carry the heaviest load. Among those aged up to 14, 44.5% lived in poor households in the first half of the year.
Among people aged 15 to 29, the rate was 36.9%. For those aged 65 and over, it was 14.8%.
Among people aged 30 to 64, the rate was 28.8%. Poverty falls steadily with age in INDEC’s figures.
By region, the Northeast was worst, at 41.5%, and Patagonia best, at 28.4%. Greater Buenos Aires, home to nearly a third of Argentines, came in at 32.1%.
Cuyo, the western wine region around Mendoza, stood at 36.7%. The Northwest was at 31.5% and the Pampas region at 30.3%.
What the Government Says
Economy Minister Luis Caputo acknowledged the rise on X. He stressed that poverty is far below the 52.9% of the first half of 2024, and indigence below 18.1%.
That 2024 peak followed a sharp devaluation and deep spending cuts early in Milei’s term. Poverty had been 41.7% in late 2023, when he took office.
It then fell fast as inflation eased: to 38.1% in late 2024, 31.6% in early 2025 and 28.2% in late 2025. INDEC says the new rate is statistically unchanged from a year earlier.
Milei, speaking in New York the same day, played down talk of a slowdown. “We don’t see a problem with growth,” he told Bloomberg, forecasting growth of about 3% this year, “perhaps a little less”.
Why It Matters If You Live in Argentina
For foreigners living in Argentina, the numbers explain what many see on the street. The cost of basics, not only headline inflation, decides how households cope.
The data also shape politics before Milei’s re-election bid in 2027. His approval stood at 38% in August, according to an AtlasIntel poll for Bloomberg.
For investors, social strain is now part of the Argentina story. Weak activity and jobs could hurt Milei’s re-election chances, economist Jimena Zúñiga told Bloomberg.
What Comes Next
Agustín Salvia of the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) told Reuters poverty could reach about 35% by year-end. The UCA’s social-debt observatory often anticipates official trends.
The government expects the rate to resume falling in the second half, Ámbito reported. The two views will be tested in March.
The UCA says the fall in poverty has run its course. It sees a structural core near 30% that slowing inflation alone cannot shift.
INDEC usually publishes second-half figures in March. Until then, its monthly basket data show whether prices for basics are still outrunning pay.
Sources: Infobae, INDEC figures and Caputo reaction, 24 September 2026; Al Jazeera, poverty and UCA forecast, 25 September 2026; Ámbito, government expectations, 24 September 2026; INDEC, basket valuation for August 2026; Buenos Aires Times, Milei in New York, 24 September 2026. Exchange rate: Argentine central bank (BCRA) reference rate of 24 September 2026, 1,518.74 pesos per US dollar.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Argentina’s poverty rate now?
INDEC put it at 32.3% of people in the first half of 2026. That is up from 28.2% in the second half of 2025.
How many Argentines are poor?
About 9.7 million people in the 31 urban areas that INDEC surveys. Projected onto the whole country, that is roughly 15.6 million.
Why did poverty rise?
Incomes grew more slowly than prices for basics. Household income per person rose 11.5%, while the poverty-line basket rose nearly 20%.
Is poverty higher than when Milei took office?
No. It remains below the 41.7% of late 2023, when Milei took office. It is also far below the 52.9% peak of early 2024.
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In depth
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