Despegue THE PROGRAM ESEN
up to date · reviewed Aug 17, 2026
The pillar, in detail

Poverty

28.2%
poverty H2-2025 verif 2025-S2
from the 52.9% peak (H1-2024) to 28.2%: the lowest since 2018
ON TRACK▲ improving stability → long-term investment
ON TRACK: the latest figure meets the promise.

What was promised

Reduce poverty genuinely (through stabilization and growth, not spending/inflation).

Where it stands today

28.2% of people in the 2nd half of 2025 (8.5 M people; extreme poverty 6.3%). Down 3.4 pp in people (3.1 pp in households) vs the 1st half; the lowest value since early 2018. FULL ARC (INDEC, people): 41.7% inherited (H2-2023) → 52.9% at the peak (H1-2024, with inherited inflation crystallizing after the Dec-2023 devaluation) → 38.1% (H2-2024) → 31.6% (H1-2025) → 28.2% (H2-2025). Against the peak: -24.7 pp. verif 2025-S2

The historical series

%

Our reading

Trend improving (editorial reading, anchored to the data)
What it enables if sustained thesis
Poverty falling WITH inflation falling → it validates the program's central mechanism (inflation was the most regressive tax) → it sustains the political capital to complete the reforms. R3+R6
28.2% and falling -> if the recovery in real income translates into base consumption, the domestic market emerges as a second engine behind tradables. It is not happening yet: the Activity pillar shows mining +15.7% and agriculture +4.6% pulling against manufacturing -5.6% and commerce -4.3% (May-2026). R3
Less poverty through stability and not spending = a fiscally free improvement: it leaves no bill to pay later (the difference from the 2011/2017 cycles). R1+R3
What we watchA poverty rebound if disinflation does not translate into a recovery of real income, or if the recession drags on.

Which policy pushes this number, and where each rule stands13

The rule is R3 · stability → long-term investment. These rules declare it too: they push in the direction this axis measures. Another 5 axes of the dashboard rest on it.

Mercosur–EU ratified: 450 million consumers open up to agriculture and industryLey 27.800 (Official Gazette Feb 26, 2026); provisional application from May 1, 2026in force
RIGI: more time and more sectorsDecreto 105/2026in force
Super RIGI: data centers, AI and semiconductorsFirst-round approval in the Chamber of Deputies (Jun-2026), in the Senatepending
Argentina and the US sign their first trade and investment agreementBilateral agreement signed Feb 5, 2026 (no number; submitted to Congress)pending
The State reorders the trunk gas pipelines and forces firm transportation contracts to be redrawnRes. SE 66/2026 (Official Gazette, Mar 13, 2026) + Res. ENARGAS 409/2026in execution
Renewables: from state subsidy to private contractRes. SE 400/2025 + DNU 70/2023 (art. 176)in force
First energy privatization closed: Transener goes private for USD 356 MRes. 673/2026 MECON (Official Gazette, May 12, 2026) + Res. 130/2026 ENReGEin execution
Waterway: a 25-year private concessionRes. 36/2026 ANPYN (award Jun 19, 2026, Jan de Nul-Servimagnus)in execution
Pacto de Mayo: the roadmap signed with the provincesAct of May (declaration, no law no.) + Council of May by Decreto 617/2024pending
Public order: the end of unpunished road blockadesResolución 943/2023 (Ministry of Security)in force
The RIGI reaches the railwaysDecreto 748/2026in force

The markets that exist because of this same inference8

How often it is updated

Frequency
twice a year
Lag
~90 days after the period closes
Latest period published
2025-S2
Who publishes it
INDEC's EPH: one half-year at a time, published ~90 days after it closes.
How to read the seals →   verif primary source · prob primary source pending · unconf a source said it · estim our own calculation · thesis our reading · the date belongs to the datum, at the precision its source allows
Ignacio Aredez
Ignacio Aredez· Chief analyst
Credentials and track record →
  • 10+ years in data science for clients across Europe and the Americas
  • Certified in AI governance (ISO/IEC 42001)
  • Machine Learning (Google Cloud)
  • Registered expert with the European Commission
Built on the official source of each figure, with the gaps declared. Back to the program pillars