President Javier Milei estimated that poverty in Argentina has decreased to 36% due to the strong economic recovery. Milei highlighted that at the beginning of his term, poverty reached 57%, which implies a reduction of 21 percentage points to the current figure.
The data presented by Milei comes from projections by specialists up to January of this year, exceeding the official statistics from INDEC. According to the latest INDEC figures, in the third quarter of 2024, poverty was at 40.1% and extreme poverty at 9.7%, representing more than 17 million poor and 4.1 million indigents in the country.
As for the City of Buenos Aires, it is the region with the least poverty in Argentina, at 15.3%. The loss of 185,000 jobs throughout 2024 has been a key factor in social deterioration, according to the Argentine Social Debt Observatory of UCA.
According to various estimates, poverty is expected to be around 41% by the end of 2024, similar to the second half of 2023. Both the Torcuato Di Tella University and external consulting firms indicate a decrease in poverty in the country, placing it around 38-38.4% for the third quarter of 2024.
During the first half of 2024, non-labor income, such as state aid, has become more relevant among low-income sectors, while income from work has decreased. The disappearance of public works has contributed to the loss of 185,000 formal jobs in the first year of Milei's management.
Regarding non-labor income, the values of the Universal Child Allowance and food cards have significantly increased above inflation, benefiting millions of people in the country. The Universal Child Allowance, for example, increased by 390% in just one year.
