Poverty in Argentina Falls from 52 to 38% Under Javier Milei

Argentina’s poverty rate dropped from 52.9 percent to 38.1 percent during the second half of 2024, according to new data by the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina (INDEC).

Local outlets reported that INDEC, a decentralized entity within the Argentine Economic Ministry, observed a nationwide decrease in poverty and indigence (extreme poverty) rates during the last six months of 2024. During that time period, poverty fell 14.8 percentage points and 8.2 percent of the population was documented living below the extreme poverty line.

Argentina’s Radio Mitre stated that the government of President Javier Milei managed to improve the country’s situation in comparison to 2023, the last year of the disastrous socialist administration of former president and suspected domestic abuser Alberto Fernández. According to INDEC’s report, there are roughly 18 million Argentines living in conditions of poverty.

“With respect to the first half of 2024, the incidence of poverty fell for both households and individuals, by 13.9 and 14.8 percentage points, respectively,” INDEC detailed. “In the case of indigence, it showed a decrease of 7.2 percent for households and 9.9 percent for individuals.”

The Argentine presidency celebrated the reduction of the nation’s poverty rate in a statement on Monday and attributed it to the deep economic reforms spearheaded by President Javier Milei. The development is a “direct result” of Milei’s fight to reduce inflation in the South American nation, as well as the “macroeconomic stability and the elimination of restrictions that for years limited the economic potential of Argentines,” the presidency asserted.

The press release also criticized the socialist administration of former President Alberto Fernández, former Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and former Economic Minister Sergio Massa for leaving the country in “unprecedented poverty.”

“These indices reflect the failure of past policies, which plunged millions of Argentines into precariousness while selling that they were helping the poor, but poverty did not stop increasing,” the statement read. “The current administration shows that the path of economic freedom and fiscal responsibility is the way to reduce poverty in the long term.”

“President Javier Milei and his economic team led by Minister Luis Caputo will continue on this path that has proven to give back to the Argentine people the dignity that was denied to them for decades, and that places the fight against poverty as one of its most important axes. This is the first Government in many years to start a real process of poverty reduction,” the news release concluded.

On Tuesday, President Milei posted a chart to his X account showcasing recent Argentine poverty rates. The graph compared the results of the first year of his administration with those observed during the administrations of Alberto Fernández (2020-2023) and center-right former President Mauricio Macri (2016-2019).

“The poverty data and the negotiation of an agreement with the IMF [International Monetary Fund], turn the analysis and interpretations of the commentators into a true celebration of the revelation principle… CIAO!” Milei wrote.

The president also touted INDEC’s latest poverty rating measurements in a separate X post in which he described the statistics as a “bad day for the baboons,” a term Milei often uses to refer to local politicians and journalists critical of his policies.

“Poverty fell very sharply. The drop in inflation, the growth in the level of activity and the policies promoted by the Ministry of Human Capital have lifted more than 8 MILLION people out of poverty. If we consider the peak figure, the drop in the number of poor people is more than 10 MILLION,” the president wrote.

“This is enjoyed by the good Argentines and suffered by the baboon econochantas [slang term for ‘fraudulent economists’], the club of the serial devaluators, the miserable politicians and the ignorant journalists (those who perceive themselves as the right-thinking center -unassumed leftists- to the most stale left),” he concluded.

Economic Minister Luis Caputo also celebrated the report. In an X post, he wrote that the current Argentine government took “the worst economic inheritance in history” and managed to lift ten million Argentines out of poverty, lower inflation to levels “that nobody predicted,” grow the economy by six percent, and end the nation’s fiscal deficit in one month, as well as other economic achievements.

“Good Argentines, 7 more years of ‘bad plans’ like this one and we are a power!” Caputo wrote, refuting local analysts who recently accused the government of having a “badly done” economic plan.

Upon taking office in December 2023 as Argentina’s first libertarian President, Milei began implementing a series of “shock therapy” economic measures to help avert a collapse of the nation’s economy after the administration of Alberto Fernández pushed Argentina to the brink of complete economic ruin.

Milei’s policies successfully lowered Argentina’s runaway inflation. In January, Argentina logged its lowest inflation rates in five years, going from 25.5 percent at the start of Milei’s administration to 2.2 percent that month. In February, the inflation rate in Argentina was measured at 2.4 percent. INDEC is expected to release March’s inflation rate report in mid-April.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.