Despite drop in poverty, homelessness in Buenos Aires City increases by almost 30%

Homelessness in Buenos Aires City (CABA) is on the rise, a new census by the city’s government confirmed this week. However, fewer people under 18 are living on the streets. The number of homeless people in the Argentine capital has increased by 27.83% compared to the survey that was done in November 2024. A total of 5176 people were homeless, compared to 4029 in the previous census. Of those, 1613 were effectively living on the streets (compared to 1236 before), with most people living in the city’s Social Inclusion Centers (CIS, for its Spanish acronym). The numbers come from the latest survey by the Buenos Aires City government Human Development and Habitat Ministry, led by Gabriel Mraida. It identified that 83% of the people were men between the ages of 19 and 60. Just 30% were Buenos Aires City natives (porteños), 39.5% were born in Buenos Aires province, 19.3% in other provinces, and 8.3% in other countries. The census found just one minor under the age of 14 and nine between the ages of 15 and 18, a big decrease when compared to 21 minors under the age of 14 that were registered in the April 2022 census. New centers The City informed that, despite the rise, the CIS system isn’t collapsing, with 10 new centers opening in 2025, taking the total to 58, with room to house 4900 people. Mraida insisted a segmentation policy — with specific places focused on families, on people struggling with mental health, on addiction recovery centers, etc — has helped people reach out to and stay at the centers. The new census has also changed its methodology, and now counts people staying at CIS as homeless, while they previously weren’t. It also revealed that 37.9% became homeless in the last year, and 64% acknowledge a deterioration in their health since living on the streets.  A further 80,7% reported having suffered some form of institutional violence, mainly from the Buenos Aires police and the Ministry of Public Space and Urban Hygiene. A rise despite poverty numbers dropping The result of the latest census comes at a time when poverty numbers are decreasing. The Institute of Statistics and Censuses of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires reported that the number of people living below the poverty line fell significantly from 28.1% to the current level of almost 17% in the third quarter of 2025, the fourth consecutive decline.  Looking for an explanation, Mraida aimed at what’s happening outside Buenos Aires City’s borders. “Most homeless people in the city are not from Buenos Aires. The majority come from the province of Buenos Aires,” he said. “If the most populous district in the country does not have a policy on this issue, it is to be expected that the number in CABA will continue to rise,” he said, indirectly criticizing the peronist government of Axel Kicillof.