The clear deterioration of Argentine salaries is a trend that predates President Javier Milei. It is worth noting, however, that wages suffered a sharper decline over the last year of the Alberto Fernández administration (2023) and the first years of the libertarian government. 

According to a recent report by ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Carribean), wages have dropped 20% over the past eight years, the worst performance in Latin America.

Experts agree that the decline is directly linked to the macroeconomy. 

“With this macroeconomic behavior, it would have been very surprising for wages to grow or to even remain stable,” economist Luis Campos said in an interview with Herald sister publication Ámbito.

Similarly, analyst Federico Pastrana said it was due to a “macroeconomic crisis and the falling of gross domestic product per capita.” 

In 2025, GDP grew by 4.4%, following drops of 1.3% in 2024 and 1.6% in 2023. The indicator had previously rebounded by 10.4% in 2021 and 5% in 2022, after a sharp 9.9% fall following the end of Mauricio Macri’s administration in 2019 and the pandemic.

Income has been declining since 2017, with sharp drops following the currency crisis of 2018–2019 and the pandemic. This was compounded by inflation, which further eroded purchasing power.

“Although several consecutive years of economic growth were achieved after the end of the convertibility regime (1991-2002), Argentina was not able to sustain that process beyond 2011,” data center........

© Buenos Aires Herald