Argentina’s poverty rate increased to 32.3 percent in the first half of 2026, reversing part of the progress recorded under President Javier Milei’s economic reforms.
Figures released by Argentina’s national statistics agency, INDEC, showed that poverty rose by 4.1 percentage points, from 28.2 percent in the second half of 2025 to 32.3 percent between January and June 2026.
Extreme poverty also increased from 6.3 percent to 7.5 percent, meaning more households were unable to afford basic food requirements.
The country’s unemployment rate rose to 7.9 percent in the second quarter, its highest level since 2021. Meanwhile, wages have struggled to keep pace with the rising cost of essential goods and services.
According to INDEC, household income per person increased by 11.5 percent during the first six months of the year, while the cost of goods and services used to determine the poverty threshold rose by nearly 20 percent.
The Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) estimates that the poverty rate could reach 35 percent by the end of 2026, suggesting that economic hardship could worsen.
Milei, who was elected president in 2023, has previously pointed to declining poverty as evidence that his free-market economic reforms and austerity measures were producing results.
Poverty had surged to nearly 53 percent in the first half of 2024, following the devaluation of the peso and government spending cuts. It later declined to 28.2 percent in the second half of 2025, the lowest level since early 2018.
Despite the latest increase, the poverty rate remains below the level recorded during the first half of 2024.
Analysts say the latest figures indicate that the gains associated with falling inflation may be losing momentum, with further improvements depending increasingly on job creation and stronger real wage growth.
Nicholas Watson, managing director for Latin America at consultancy Teneo, said the increase would not erase the significant reduction previously recorded but could indicate that the easier phase of the recovery had passed.
The worsening economic conditions are also putting pressure on Milei’s support among lower-income voters ahead of Argentina’s 2027 presidential election. A September AtlasIntel survey found that nearly 70 percent of lower-income respondents disapproved of his performance, while approval among the group fell below 30 percent.
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