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UCA Says Argentina’s Poverty Fell to 36.3% in Q3, But Warns Drop Is Largely Statistical

The Catholic University’s observatory says improved income reporting and an outdated poverty basket inflated the decline, leaving only a modest real improvement since 2023.

Overview

  • UCA’s survey puts poverty at 36.3–36.6% and indigence at 6.8% in Q3 2025, marking the lowest poverty level since 2018 after last year’s peak.
  • The observatory estimates only a 2.1 percentage point real drop since 2023, noting the EPH now captures roughly 17% more household income than in 2023 and placing a corrected 2025 rate near 35%.
  • UCA contends official figures are dampened by a poverty line based on 2004/05 spending patterns and says a 2017/18-weighted basket would yield higher and more slowly falling poverty.
  • Structural hardship endures, with a pronounced child gap: poverty reaches 48.8% in households with children versus 10.8% in those without.
  • Social transfers remain pivotal: simulations indicate poverty would be about 41.8% and indigence 12.8% without them, with high economic stress (46.8% of people) and food insecurity in 18.7% of households.