The National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina (Indec) released a report this Wednesday (27) which showed that the incidence of poverty increased by 0.9 percentage points in the country’s urban areas in the first half of this year compared to the last six months 2022.
Thus, 11.8 million Argentines are in this condition in the 31 urban agglomerations surveyed, equivalent to 40.1% of the population in these areas. It is the highest index since the first half of 2021, when the level recorded was 40.6% and the world was beginning to recover from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Within the group of Argentines in poverty, the number of those in a situation of destitution increased by 1.2 percentage points and reached 9.3% of the population in urban areas, the equivalent of 2.7 million people.
Indec defines that households that do not have sufficient income to meet a set of food and non-food needs (such as clothing, education, health and transport) considered essential are in poverty.
The institute considers that those who do not have the income to pay for a food basket capable of satisfying a minimum of energy and protein needs are in destitution.
The projection of private consultants consulted by the Clarín newspaper indicates that poverty is expected to increase further by the end of the year, due to the inflationary impact of the 22% devaluation of the Argentine peso promoted by the government in August.
According to these estimates, the proportion of Argentines in poverty could reach 42% or 43% by the end of the year. In August, 12-month inflation already accelerated to 124.4%, after remaining at 113.4% in July.
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