Argentine poverty rate climbs, in setback for Milei

Argentina's poverty rate rose to 32.3% in the first half of 2026, marking a setback for President Javier Milei, who had nearly halved the poverty rate during his first two years in office. The national statistics agency Indec reported that the rate increased by 4.1 points compared to the previous half of 2025. Extreme poverty also surged from 6.3% to 7.5%.

Children were the most affected, with 44.5% of Argentine children under 14 classified as poor, and 10.8% as extremely poor. The poverty threshold is set at around US$340 for adults, while those unable to afford a food-only basket valued at about US$150 are considered extremely poor. The figures represent a significant reversal after Milei's government succeeded in cutting poverty rates by more than half during the initial years of his presidency, largely by curbing inflation.

However, the recent climb in poverty aligns with a rebound in inflation, which began the year before settling at the lowest level in 14 months. Eduardo Donza, a researcher at the Social Debt Observatory of Argentina's Catholic University, attributes the high poverty rates to job insecurity, noting that the manufacturing and retail sectors have shed jobs due to reduced consumer spending and Milei's efforts to open the economy to foreign competition.

This has led to a spike in imports and the closure of approximately 30,000 companies since the president's tenure began, pushing the unemployment rate to 7.9% in the second quarter of 2026, the highest since 2021. Donza emphasizes that job insecurity, rather than unemployment, is the main driver of poverty, as families resort to precarious employment options like collecting waste, vending goods on the street, or selling at train stations.

Milei maintains that he has lifted 14 million people out of poverty, a claim based on the reduction in poverty levels from the peak following his inauguration.