Official data released on Tuesday indicates that more than half of Argentinians now live in poverty, with poverty rates steadily rising since last year, exacerbated by President Javier Melli's cost-cutting policies.
The Social Debt Observatory, affiliated with the Catholic University of Argentina, estimated the poverty rate at 55.5% in the first quarter of this year, compared to 44.7% in the third quarter of 2023 and 49.5% in December, when Melli took office.
According to the figures, about 17.5% of the country's 46 million population are destitute, nearly double the rate in the third quarter of last year.
Poverty level in Argentina is defined as earning a monthly income of less than $292 required to purchase a basic basket of consumer goods for an adult, or $904 for a family with two children.
An adult earning less than $132 is considered in extreme poverty.
These new numbers are worse than those previously released by the National Statistics Agency "INDEC," which put the poverty rate at 41.7% at the end of 2023.
At that time, the rate had increased compared to 39.2% the previous year.