Poverty in Argentina: the 2024 surge, the 2025-2026 reflux
In the first half of 2024, more than one urban Argentine in two lived below the poverty line. The rate then fell sharply as inflation slowed, without returning to 2017 levels. Poverty, indigence, children and unemployment, from INDEC.
Scope: Argentina, the 31 urban agglomerations of INDEC’s Permanent Household Survey (EPH), by half-year, from the second half of 2016 to the first half of 2026; World Bank for the regional comparison.
Key points
- The 2024 surge. In the first half of 2024, 52.9% of urban residents lived below the poverty line and 18.1% below the indigence line, against 41.7% poor in the previous half-year.
- A fast reflux. The poverty rate fell to 28.2% in the second half of 2025; it stands at 32.3% in the first half of 2026, 20.6 pt below the peak.
- A slight rise over a year. Compared with the same half of the previous year (31.6%), the first-half 2026 rate is up 0.7 pt. Indigence affects 7.5% of residents, after 6.3% in the previous half-year.
- Children first. 44.5% of children aged 0 to 14 live in a poor household, against 14.8% of people aged 65 and over.
- Moderate unemployment. The unemployment rate is 7.9% in quarter Q2 2026: it did not follow the surge in poverty.
How to read these figures
INDEC measures poverty by income: a person is poor if their household income is below the cost of the total basic basket (food, clothing, transport, education, health…), and indigent if it does not cover the basic food basket. These baskets are repriced every month: when inflation outpaces incomes, poverty rises mechanically, and vice versa.
The survey covers the 31 large urban agglomerations, not rural areas. Figures are published by half-year; a first half compares with the first half of the previous year. INDEC advises against comparing with figures from before the second half of 2016, a period of crisis in official statistics. The World Bank applies a common line in purchasing-power-parity dollars, hence different levels.
1. Poverty and indigence
Both rates jumped in the first half of 2024, in the months after the December 2023 devaluation, then fell back as inflation slowed.
Share of people below the poverty and indigence lines
INDEC, 31 urban agglomerations, by half-year. Latest half-year: H1 2026. As a share of households: 24.4%.
- Indigence
- Poverty
Source:INDEC
Show the chart data
| Period | Poverty | Indigence |
|---|---|---|
| H2 2016 | 30.3% | 6.1% |
| H1 2017 | 28.6% | 6.2% |
| H2 2017 | 25.7% | 4.8% |
| H1 2018 | 27.3% | 4.9% |
| H2 2018 | 32.0% | 6.7% |
| H1 2019 | 35.4% | 7.7% |
| H2 2019 | 35.5% | 8.0% |
| H1 2020 | 40.9% | 10.5% |
| H2 2020 | 42.0% | 10.5% |
| H1 2021 | 40.6% | 10.7% |
| H2 2021 | 37.3% | 8.2% |
| H1 2022 | 36.5% | 8.8% |
| H2 2022 | 39.2% | 8.1% |
| H1 2023 | 40.1% | 9.3% |
| H2 2023 | 41.7% | 11.9% |
| H1 2024 | 52.9% | 18.1% |
| H2 2024 | 38.1% | 8.2% |
| H1 2025 | 31.6% | 6.9% |
| H2 2025 | 28.2% | 6.3% |
| H1 2026 | 32.3% | 7.5% |
Average gap of poor households to the poverty line
Gap between poor households’ income and the line, as a percentage of the line: 35.9% in H1 2026, 42.6% in H1 2024.
Source:INDEC
Show the chart data
| Period | Gap to the line |
|---|---|
| H2 2016 | 37.0% |
| H1 2017 | 37.7% |
| H2 2017 | 35.5% |
| H1 2018 | 36.2% |
| H2 2018 | 38.9% |
| H1 2019 | 39.3% |
| H2 2019 | 39.8% |
| H1 2020 | 41.2% |
| H2 2020 | 41.9% |
| H1 2021 | 40.0% |
| H2 2021 | 36.9% |
| H1 2022 | 37.2% |
| H2 2022 | 36.5% |
| H1 2023 | 37.8% |
| H2 2023 | 39.2% |
| H1 2024 | 42.6% |
| H2 2024 | 37.0% |
| H1 2025 | 37.0% |
| H2 2025 | 35.7% |
| H1 2026 | 35.9% |
2. Poverty hits children first
In every half-year, poverty affects children more than adults, and older people much less.
Poverty rate by age
Share of people in each age group living in a poor household. Aged 0 to 14: 44.5% in H1 2026, 45.4% a year earlier.
- Aged 65 and over
- Aged 30-64
- Aged 15-29
- Aged 0-14
Source:INDEC
Show the chart data
| Period | Aged 0-14 | Aged 15-29 | Aged 30-64 | Aged 65 and over |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H2 2016 | 45.8% | 36.2% | 25.8% | 7.4% |
| H1 2017 | 42.5% | 34.6% | 24.2% | 6.4% |
| H2 2017 | 39.7% | 31.3% | 21.1% | 6.3% |
| H1 2018 | 41.4% | 32.9% | 23.2% | 6.9% |
| H2 2018 | 46.8% | 38.6% | 27.6% | 9.0% |
| H1 2019 | 52.6% | 42.3% | 30.4% | 10.4% |
| H2 2019 | 52.3% | 42.5% | 30.5% | 11.3% |
| H1 2020 | 56.3% | 49.6% | 36.2% | 11.4% |
| H2 2020 | 57.7% | 49.2% | 37.2% | 11.9% |
| H1 2021 | 54.3% | 48.5% | 36.3% | 13.8% |
| H2 2021 | 51.4% | 44.2% | 32.6% | 13.0% |
| H1 2022 | 50.9% | 43.3% | 32.0% | 12.1% |
| H2 2022 | 54.2% | 45.0% | 35.0% | 14.5% |
| H1 2023 | 56.2% | 46.8% | 35.4% | 13.2% |
| H2 2023 | 58.4% | 47.0% | 36.8% | 17.6% |
| H1 2024 | 66.1% | 60.7% | 48.6% | 29.7% |
| H2 2024 | 51.9% | 44.9% | 33.6% | 16.0% |
| H1 2025 | 45.4% | 37.0% | 27.7% | 10.8% |
| H2 2025 | 41.3% | 32.6% | 24.6% | 9.7% |
| H1 2026 | 44.5% | 36.9% | 28.8% | 14.8% |
3. Employment
Unemployment stayed contained during the episode: the 2024 rise in poverty did not come with a surge in unemployment.
Unemployment rate
INDEC, EPH, 31 agglomerations, by quarter. Latest quarter: Q2 2026.
Source:INDEC (datos.gob.ar)
Show the chart data
| Period | Unemployment |
|---|---|
| Q2 2016 | 9.3% |
| Q3 2016 | 8.5% |
| Q4 2016 | 7.6% |
| Q1 2017 | 9.2% |
| Q2 2017 | 8.7% |
| Q3 2017 | 8.3% |
| Q4 2017 | 7.2% |
| Q1 2018 | 9.1% |
| Q2 2018 | 9.6% |
| Q3 2018 | 9.0% |
| Q4 2018 | 9.1% |
| Q1 2019 | 10.1% |
| Q2 2019 | 10.6% |
| Q3 2019 | 9.7% |
| Q4 2019 | 8.9% |
| Q1 2020 | 10.4% |
| Q2 2020 | 13.1% |
| Q3 2020 | 11.7% |
| Q4 2020 | 11.0% |
| Q1 2021 | 10.2% |
| Q2 2021 | 9.6% |
| Q3 2021 | 8.2% |
| Q4 2021 | 7.0% |
| Q1 2022 | 7.0% |
| Q2 2022 | 6.9% |
| Q3 2022 | 7.1% |
| Q4 2022 | 6.3% |
| Q1 2023 | 6.9% |
| Q2 2023 | 6.2% |
| Q3 2023 | 5.7% |
| Q4 2023 | 5.7% |
| Q1 2024 | 7.7% |
| Q2 2024 | 7.6% |
| Q3 2024 | 6.9% |
| Q4 2024 | 6.4% |
| Q1 2025 | 7.9% |
| Q2 2025 | 7.6% |
| Q3 2025 | 6.6% |
| Q4 2025 | 7.5% |
| Q1 2026 | 7.8% |
| Q2 2026 | 7.9% |
4. Comparison with the neighbours
At the international line of $8.30 a day (2021 purchasing power parity), the World Bank measures poverty in 2024 at 15.2% in Argentina, against 20.6% in Brazil, 21.4% in Mexico and 4.5% in Chile.
Share of the population below $8.30 a day
World Bank, 2021 purchasing power parity. For Argentina, urban population only.
- Mexico
- Chile
- Brazil
- Argentina (urban)
Source:World Bank
Show the chart data
| Period | Argentina (urban) | Brazil | Chile | Mexico |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 30.9% | – | 44.5% | 55.1% |
| 2001 | 34.3% | 50.3% | – | – |
| 2002 | 49.1% | 49.8% | – | 52.9% |
| 2003 | 33.1% | 50.9% | 43.2% | – |
| 2004 | 28.6% | 49.5% | – | 50.4% |
| 2005 | 24.5% | 47.5% | – | 48.4% |
| 2006 | 19.9% | 43.7% | 32.0% | 45.9% |
| 2007 | 18.9% | 41.2% | – | – |
| 2008 | 16.7% | 38.2% | – | 46.0% |
| 2009 | 15.2% | 36.3% | 27.6% | – |
| 2010 | 13.6% | – | – | 46.3% |
| 2011 | 11.3% | 32.2% | 23.5% | – |
| 2012 | 10.3% | 30.4% | – | 44.1% |
| 2013 | 10.4% | 27.9% | 14.4% | – |
| 2014 | 11.7% | 26.4% | – | 46.6% |
| 2015 | – | 27.4% | 11.7% | – |
| 2016 | 11.5% | 29.1% | – | 37.8% |
| 2017 | 9.8% | 29.3% | 9.0% | – |
| 2018 | 12.5% | 28.7% | – | 35.3% |
| 2019 | 14.9% | 28.0% | – | – |
| 2020 | 18.3% | 20.8% | 11.3% | 36.5% |
| 2021 | 14.2% | 30.6% | – | – |
| 2022 | 13.9% | 25.3% | 6.1% | 27.4% |
| 2023 | 16.4% | 23.3% | – | – |
| 2024 | 15.2% | 20.6% | 4.5% | 21.4% |
What we know, what we don’t
What the figures establish
- Poverty peaked in the first half of 2024, at more than half of urban residents.
- It fell sharply in 2025, but rose slightly in the first half of 2026 compared with the first half of 2025.
- Children remain the most affected age group.
What they don’t tell
- Poverty in rural areas, which the survey does not cover.
- The respective roles of wages, pensions and social benefits in the reflux: these series do not measure the effect of policies.
- The effect of income under-reporting, common in surveys, on the measured level.
Sources
Series downloaded from their producers on Nov 12, 2026, the snapshot date. Only published periods are used: no projection.