Poverty rose to 32.3% in first half of 2026
INDEC says almost 10 million people are now considered poor in Argentina as household incomes struggle to keep pace with rising costs; Poverty up four points in six months, worrying sign for Milei administration.
Poverty in Argentina is growing, rising four points over the last six months to affect almost a third of the population.
Official data released by the INDEC national statistics bureau on Thursday showed that 32.3 percent of people were living in poverty in the first half of the year, up 4.1 points from the 28.2 percent recorded at the end of 2025. In the annual comparison, poverty rose 0.7 points.
Almost 10 million people were classified as living below the poverty line in the 31 urban areas covered by the statistics institute in its survey.
Extreme poverty rose 1.2 points to reach 7.5 percent of the population – roughly equivalent to around 2.2 million people, said INDEC, which said 5.6 percent of households faced destitution.
The bureau’s official data for the second half of 2025 had recorded 8.47 million people living in poverty and 1.88 million in extreme poverty.