Poverty drops to 28.2%, the lowest in seven years

Poverty in Argentina fell to 28.2% in the second semester of 2025, according to a report released on Tuesday by the governments statistics institute, INDEC. This is the lowest figure since the first half of 2018. Meanwhile, extreme poverty affected 6.3% of people living in the country. Extrapolated to the total population, 13.1 million people are living below the poverty line, of whom 2.9 million are living in extreme poverty.  Compared to the first half of 2025, the poverty rate fell by 3.4 percentage points, when it stood at 31.6%. Extreme poverty fell by 0.6%. Poverty and extreme poverty depend on households ability to afford the basic food basket and the total basic basket. Compared to the previous six-month period, the average total household income increased by 18.3%, while the baskets increased on average by 11.9% and 11.3%, respectively. POVERTY CONTINUES TO DECLINE, President Javier Milei posted on X, adding facts, not fiction and MAGA, in reference to U.S. President Donald Trumps slogan, Make America Great Again. A statistical effect In December, a report by the Social Debt Observatory from the Argentine Catholic University (UCA, by its Spanish initials) said that the drop in poverty and destitution may have been overestimated by the INDEC due to changes in how they measure those numbers.  It is possible that around three-quarters of the drop in the levels since 2023 may respond to a statistical effect, the observatory said then. The representatives of INDEC workers soon released a statement that mentioned “a widespread public reaction, in a context of growing discredit toward the institution following Mileis interference, which led to the resignation of the previous director.” The workers of the institution also presented an analysis of what the index reflects, underlining that “the figures released by the President are not correct” and are “exaggerations that discredit the work carried out by those of us who work at the institute.” They concluded that, “the figures must be analyzed with caution. One cannot speak of a solid or sustainable improvement; rather, it takes place within a framework of increasing labor precariousness, expansion of multiple jobholding, rising household debt, and worsening unemployment. It is therefore essential to temper interpretations of these figures and analyze them beyond simplistic official readings in order to more accurately assess the severity of the situation.” Ral Llaneza, union representative of INDEC workers, told the Herald that, “We do not view this data as indicating a downward trend in the index. Once the figures for the first half of this year are released, there may be an upward trend due to multiple factors.”