Poverty rises to 32.3% in Argentina in the first half of 2026

Poverty rose to 32.3% in Argentina during the first half of 2026, according to the newspaper La Nación, citing official data from the Indec. With this reading, the indicator broke the downward trend it had maintained for a year and a half.

The official rate represents an increase of four percentage points compared with previous half-years, when the measurement stood at around 30%, the newspaper Ámbito noted in reviewing public statistics and reports from the Observatorio de la Deuda Social of the UCA. Meanwhile, the state broadcaster Telesur reported that poverty affected 24.4% of households in the first half of the year in the South American country.

The setback in living conditions reflects the acceleration of inflation after the electoral process and the loss of momentum in the recovery of real wages, according to private measurements published by La Nación. This slowdown in purchasing power is directly reflected in social indicators after 13 months of decline in registered private-sector wage employment, according to data from the Argentine Integrated Pension System (SIPA).

In absolute terms, the phenomenon leaves about 15.4 million people in poverty across the national territory, according to projections from the consultancy ExQuanti cited by La Nación. Within that total, indigence rose to 7.5%, equivalent to about 4.1 million minors affected by child poverty in the zero-to-14 age group.