Argentina’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accelerated by 3.9% in the third quarter of the year compared to the immediately preceding three months, ending three consecutive quarters of red numbers.
According to data released on Monday by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC), the level of economic activity – considered a preliminary estimate of GDP – of all the sectors analyzed registered an increase in the third quarter compared to the immediately previous period. .
The South American country thus managed to break the streak of three negative quarters, so the progress between June and September marks Argentina’s first period of growth since the country went into recession at the end of 2023.
The figures represent a milestone for President Javier Milei, a far-right libertarian who took power a year ago with the challenge of cleaning up Argentina’s busy economy and stabilizing inflation. “Argentina is flying upwards,” the president celebrated from his X account, when commenting on the GDP results.
According to Indec, between July and September Argentine exports grew by 3.2% compared to the second quarter of the year, while private consumption increased by 4.6%, public consumption rose by 0.7% and training Gross fixed capital expanded by 12%.
The rebound occurs when Milei completes one year in office, a period in which he has applied shock therapy to reduce the size of the State and which involved radical cuts in areas such as pensions, health, education and others.
Despite the recovery compared to the second quarter of 2024, in the year-on-year comparison, GDP plummeted 2.1%.
In the year-on-year comparison, the agriculture, livestock, hunting and forestry sectors stand out positively, which expanded by 13.2% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2023. On the other hand, construction, with a decrease of 14%. .9%, and wholesale, retail and repair activities (-6.1%) continue to shrink.
The figures point towards a recovery of Argentina’s economy, the second largest in South America, behind Brazil, and have been celebrated by Milei and his economic team, led by Minister Luis Caputo, who stated that the country is finally beginning to ” normalize.”
Last week, inflation in Argentina reached its lowest level since 2020, reaching 2.4% in November compared to October, although in the year-on-year comparison the indicator accelerated by 166% and, in the accumulated of the year, it registered a variation of 112%.
The data reflects the results of Milei’s first 12 months in power, period in which, although its measures have managed to slow down prices and move towards fiscal balance, they also led to the poverty rate skyrocketing 11 points in the first half of the year and remaining above 50% of the population on a daily basis. today.
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