One of the areas where inflation is most felt is food and beverages, and Argentina has felt it stronger than ever before. In 2024, for instance,
, with an annual rate of over 150 percent. Argentina has also seen some of the highest increases in food inflation worldwide. In March 2024,
Inflation is still spiking
There are several factors that have contributed to the high food prices seen nowadays, one of the latest being the currency depreciation in late 2023. This doubled the
monthly inflation rate of food and non-alcoholic beverages in December, contributing to the largest monthly increase in food prices of the past years. The month-to-month increase in food prices has slowed down since then. In April 2024, the food inflation rate witnessed a one-digit increase for the first time since October 2023. Nevertheless, the
food and non-alcoholic beverages CPI reached its highest level in history at 6,590, and the impact has been felt in all food categories.
All food categories are more expensive
There is no food category that has not been affected by inflation, from daily habitual drinks such as
yerba mate and coffee to vegetable oils or meat. Despite it being a national problem, inflation has not been the same in all regions. For instance, Patagonia experienced the highest
CPI for coffee, mate, tea, and cacao at 7,837 that same month, while the Northwest region’s CPI was around ten percent lower at 7,070 index points. On the other hand, when it comes to
vegetable oils, it was the Northeast that reported the highest CPI at 7,283.9, while Patagonia’s CPI was 12 percent lower at 6,402 index points.
Inflation and consumers
Consumers in Argentina have dealt with high inflation for at least a decade. While the
global inflation rate was at three percent in 2017,
in Argentina it was already at 25 percent. In March 2024,
around 57 percent of respondents in Argentina said that the main problem in their country was inflation, and consumers have adjusted as best they can to their economic situation. For example, that same year, around 52 percent of respondents in Argentina reported that low prices were among their
most important criteria when purchasing food.
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Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date
data than referenced in the text.
