Milei’s 1,000 days: Prices triple as Argentine workers pay for austerity

By Carlitos Marquez | Pamphlets | America

BUENOS AIRES — A thousand days after Javier Milei took office, Argentine workers are confronting a punishing contradiction: inflation has slowed dramatically, but the cost of living remains far above its December 2023 level, while many wages and pensions have lost purchasing power.

A September 7 analysis by El Destape estimates that consumer prices climbed roughly 241% between Milei’s inauguration and July 2026. That means a basket costing 100 pesos at the start of his presidency cost approximately 341 pesos by July. The figure is a cumulative price increase, not the current annual inflation rate.

Prices rose; the inflation rate fell

Milei took office on December 10, 2023, and his administration quickly devalued the peso. Monthly inflation reached 25.5% that December. Annual inflation subsequently fell to 117.8% in 2024 and 31.5% in 2025, according to Argentina’s official statistical agency, INDEC.

The slowdown is substantial. But a lower inflation rate means prices are rising more slowly, not that grocery, rent or transport bills have returned to earlier levels. The government’s stabilization story therefore looks very different when measured against the money workers take home.

Workers paid in lost purchasing power

A September 8 review by independent fact-checker Chequeado found that registered wages in June 2026 were 8.2% lower in inflation-adjusted terms than in November 2023. Private-sector registered wages fell 3.5%, while public-sector wages were down 16.5% over that period.

Chequeado also documented a 9.3% real loss in the minimum pension with its government bonus by September 2026, compared with November 2023. Informal employment reached 44.2% in the first quarter of 2026, up from 40.8% in the first quarter of 2024. These figures describe an economy in which stabilization has not translated into security for much of the workforce.

Poverty is rising again

On September 24, INDEC reported that 32.3% of people in the 31 urban areas it surveys lived below the poverty line in the first half of 2026, up from 28.2% in the second half of 2025. Extreme poverty increased from 6.3% to 7.5%. The latest figures reverse the preceding decline, although poverty remains below its 41.7% reading in the second half of 2023.

The change demands precision. Milei’s critics cannot dismiss the reduction in inflation, fiscal deficits or poverty from the worst early shock. His supporters cannot use those improvements to erase the latest rise in hardship, falling real registered wages or the pressure on public services and household consumption.

An economy divided

The recovery has been uneven. Mining, energy and agriculture have performed better than manufacturing, construction and commerce, according to Chequeado’s 1,000-day assessment. Those divisions matter: export-led growth and a balanced budget do not automatically replace lost industrial jobs or restore a public employee’s paycheck.

Milei and his allies call the fiscal adjustment necessary to stabilize an economy damaged by years of inflation. But the real test of an economic program is not simply whether the price index decelerates. It is whether working people can afford food, housing, medicine and a dignified retirement.

After a thousand days, the evidence is clear: Argentina’s inflation crisis has changed shape, but the social cost of austerity has not disappeared. The government's macroeconomic victory remains deeply contested at the checkout counter and in the workplace.

Reporting and sources

INDEC — Consumer Price Index: https://www.indec.gob.ar/Nivel4/Tema/3/5/31

INDEC — Poverty, first half of 2026: https://www.indec.gob.ar/indec/web/Nivel3-Tema-4--46

Chequeado — 1,000 days of Milei, 10 economic indicators (September 8, 2026): https://chequeado.com/nota/javier-milei-cumplio-1-000-dias-como-presidente-10-datos-economicos-sobre-su-gestion/

Centro CEPA — 1,000 days of Milei in 10 economic indicators (September 7, 2026): https://centrocepa.com.ar/documentos/informes/846-1-000-dias-de-milei-en-10-indicadores-economicos

El Destape — 1,000 days, consumption and cumulative inflation (September 7, 2026): https://www.eldestapeweb.com/economia/1-000-dias-milei-menos-consumo-inflacion-acumulada-241-202697055