In the first half of 2025, Argentina underwent a period of economic and social transformation in which significant improvements in the living conditions of more than 10 million people were observed, according to official data from Indec.
The progress achieved by Javier Milei's government was recorded even in a context of electoral tension and an interrupted slowdown of inflation, and was associated with growth in income, fiscal balance, and various structural changes implemented by the national government.
A semester marked by broad social progress
According to Indec's Permanent Household Survey, in the 31 urban agglomerations analyzed, which are then extrapolated to the total population, 10.2 million people improved their living conditions, while 7 million experienced a deterioration. In total, the changes affected 17.2 million inhabitants, equivalent to more than a third of the country's population.
Considering the 76 general indicators surveyed by the agency—housing, sanitation, education, health, and households' material capacities—39 showed improvements, 10 remained unchanged, and 27 reflected setbacks compared to the previous year. The net positive balance represents 3.3 million people who improved their situation, a growth equivalent to 7% of the total population and significantly higher than the natural population growth.
Growth in wages, pensions, and allowances
One of the most influential factors was the evolution of real income. Between the first half of 2024 and that of 2025, the real wage of registered workers increased by 8.9%, a decisive advance for the reduction of income poverty. According to Indec, poverty fell from the peak of 52.9% to 31.6% of the population, one of the sharpest decreases since quarterly measurements began.
