Argentina’s GDP fell by 5.1% in the first quarter due to a significant decline in investment

Meanwhile, unemployment surged during this period, indicating that 1.1 million people are actively seeking employment.

Not all economic news in Javier Milei’s government in Argentina is positive. The country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) fell by 5.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, much worse than the 1.2% decline recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In seasonally adjusted terms, economic activity dropped by 2.6% compared to the previous three months.

These figures, released by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC), were anticipated to reflect the impact of measures implemented by Milei since the start of his presidency.

In detail, the sharpest declines were seen in gross fixed capital formation (-23.4%). By sector, the largest contractions occurred in Construction (-19.7%), Manufacturing (-13.7%), and Financial intermediation activities (-13%). On the other hand, Agriculture, livestock, hunting, and forestry saw growth (10.2%).

Accompanying the GDP data, unemployment figures were also released, showing a rate of 7.7% between January and March, up from 5.7% in the final three months of Alberto Fernández’s government.

The labor force participation rate, which measures the economically active population, reached 48%, while the employment rate, which measures the proportion of people employed, stood at 44.3%.