Overview
- INDEC’s August report, published Thursday, recorded a 2.6% month‑on‑month rise in both the Canasta Básica Alimentaria (CBA) and the Canasta Básica Total (CBT).
- A four‑person household needed $1,605,497 in August to avoid the poverty line while adult‑equivalent poverty and indigence lines were $519,578 and $235,103 respectively, according to the official figures.
- The CBA has climbed 23.2% so far in 2026 and 39.6% year‑on‑year, while the CBT rose 22.7% year‑to‑date and 38.3% year‑on‑year, showing sustained gains since January.
- Those basket increases outpaced headline inflation, which slowed to 1.7% in August, and kept pressure on real wages, social transfers, and household budgets concentrated on food and essentials.
- INDEC values the baskets using prices from the Gran Buenos Aires and the CBA measures minimum food needs while the CBT adds non‑food spending via the Engel coefficient, a method that keeps basic‑cost measures tied to local market prices.