Retail sales slump deepens in Argentina's Mendoza and Mar del Plata

Supermarket sales in Mendoza continued to fall, with the Centre for Political Economy of Argentina reporting a 3.6% real‑term decline in the first four months of 2026 versus the same period in 2025, leaving volumes 16.5% below 2023 levels. The drop translates to an estimated loss of about 93.9 billion pesos in revenue, driven mainly by lower purchases of beverages, meat, cleaning products and pantry items, while modest gains were seen in fresh produce, dairy and bakery goods. The report links the weakness to stagnant real wages, which remain 7.6% below November 2023, and estimates that private salaried workers have lost between 930  thousand and 4.1 million pesos in real income since that date.

A parallel decline was observed in Mar del Plata, where the Union of Commerce, Industry and Production recorded a 5.7% drop in retail sales for June 2026 compared with June 2025, a sharp acceleration from the 2.6% fall recorded in April. More than half of local merchants said their economic situation had worsened, and 85.7% postponed investment plans. The majority of businesses anticipate sales will remain flat in the coming months, reflecting lingering purchasing‑power pressures among households.