Argentina's poverty rate climbs to 30% in first quarter of 2026
Argentina's poverty rose to 30% and indigence to 6.5% in the first quarter of 2026, ending a multi‑year decline. The increase represents 0.1 percentage points for poverty and 0.4 points for indigence compared with the fourth quarter of 2025, adding roughly 1.3 million people to the poverty line.
The rise is driven by a sharp mismatch between price growth and wages: the basic food basket rose 11.6% while total basic basket rose 9.6%, outpacing the overall wage index of 8.6% and the registered‑worker wage index of 7%. Labour market weakness is evident in a 44.2% informal‑employment share and a 1.1‑point rise in sub‑employment.
Geographically, the highest poverty concentrations were recorded in Concordia (52.5%), Gran Resistencia (49.7%), Posadas (42.6%), Gran Santa Fe (39.7%) and Corrientes (38.4%). Indigence was most severe in Gran Resistencia (24.3%) followed by Concordia (11.2%), Posadas (10.7%), Gran Santa Fe (10.4%) and Corrientes (9.1%). The analysis was provided by the Observatorio de la Deuda Social Argentina (ODSA) of the Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), led by director Agustín Salvia.
Entities: Agustín Salvia · Argentina · Concórdia · ExQuanti · Observatorio de la Deuda Social Argentina (ODSA) · Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA)
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 11 SOURCES] Poverty increased by 0.1 percentage points compared with the fourth quarter of 2025. (odsa analysis)
- [● 12 SOURCES] Argentina's indigence rate was 6.5% in the first quarter of 2026. (odsa report)
- [● 11 SOURCES] Indigence increased by 0.4 percentage points compared with the fourth quarter of 2025. (odsa analysis)
- [● 12 SOURCES] Argentina's poverty rate was 30% in the first quarter of 2026. (observatorio de la deuda social argentina (odsa) report)
- [● 11 SOURCES] Approximately 1.3 million people fell into poverty between the third quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. (odsa estimate)
- [● 11 SOURCES] The highest poverty rates were Concordia (52.5%), Gran Resistencia (49.7%), Posadas (42.6%), Gran Santa Fe (39.7%) and Corrientes (38.4%). (odsa regional breakdown)
- [● 11 SOURCES] The highest indigence rates were in Gran Resistencia (24.3%), Concordia (11.2%), Posadas (10.7%), Gran Santa Fe (10.4%) and Corrientes (9.1%). (observed)
- [● 11 SOURCES] The basic food basket price rose 11.6% in the first quarter of 2026. (odsa data)