In November 2025, prices for the main vegetables and fruits at the Buenos Aires Central Market (MCBA) showed increases, projecting an upward impact on the Consumer Price Index (IPC) for the segments 'Vegetables, Tubers and Legumes' (VTL) and 'Fruits'.
The data comes from the report 'Evolution of prices for vegetables and fruits at the Buenos Aires Central Market and in large supermarket chains', according to the Argentine News Agency. According to the study by the CEPA Center, in November, the weighted average price of the 6 best-selling vegetables at the MCBA registered a 3.7% increase compared to October. This trend would imply a projected increase of 3.9% in the VTL segment of the IPC, which in turn would generate a rise of 0.1 percentage points in the index of the 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' division, whose specific weight is 2.2% within the IPC.
In the case of fruits, the segment of the 4 most traded species at the Central Market showed an 11.4% increase in their weighted prices in November compared to October. This would allow projecting an increase of 11.3% in the Fruits category of the IPC, with an impact equivalent to 1.3% of the weight of the Food division, which would indicate an upward trend of 0.2 percentage points in the November index's Fruits category.
In the product detail, the report indicates that the VTL segment at the MCBA showed a monthly variation of 3.7% in November, with tomato being the only vegetable to decrease (-29.2%). This movement is linked to a greater demand for higher quality products and the cost of fruit preservation during the year.
Regarding prices in large supermarket chains, the document states that in November, a contraction of 13.9% was observed in the average current prices of the 6 surveyed vegetables compared to October.
Year-on-year, the segment showed a contraction of 5.5%, although tomato registered the highest accumulated variation (101.7%), and the highest annual increase was observed in onion (80.2%). The report attributes the sharp increase in onion to a smaller local supply and the entry of imported goods from Brazil, during a period when the early production from the NOA and Cuyo regions predominates, while the onion from southern Buenos Aires only enters at the end of November, generating high price volatility.
After a strong entry of goods in October that had stabilized values, the limited quality of the supply at the beginning of November, led by Santiago del Estero, pushed prices up again, although in the last half of the month, greater availability, even of remnants with quality loss, combined with weaker demand, began to put downward pressure on prices.
In the Fruits segment, November left a decrease only for banana (-1.4%), while all other monitored species showed increases: apple jumped 25.0%, orange 18.2%, and lemon 6.9%. Tomato and lettuce showed sharp drops of 49.8% and 21.0%, respectively, while squash increased by 72.9%, sweet potato 22.9%, potato 15.3%, and onion 14.4%.
The gap between vegetable prices in the MCBA and in supermarkets stood at 85.7% in November, representing a contraction of 34.7 percentage points compared to the previous month. The study also highlights that in November, tomato was the vegetable with the greatest price dispersion among supermarkets, with a difference of 100.1% between the highest and lowest value. Jumbo registered the highest price, while COTO exhibited the lowest within the surveyed universe.
