During February, consumption had a slight advance compared to the same month last year but a drop compared to the previous month.
During February, consumption had a slight advance compared to the same month last year but a drop compared to the previous month. According to the data of the Consumption Indicator (CI) that analyzes the Argentine Chamber of Commerce and Services (CAC)the level of consumption of Argentines showed an advance of 0.8% in the interannual comparison and a seasonally adjusted decrease of 1.7% compared to January, when the usual seasonal effects are discounted during the year.
This new indicator developed by the CAC shows the evolution of household consumption of goods and services finals on a monthly basis. “This meager year-on-year growth seen in February continues the process of decline exhibited by the consumption indicator since mid-2022 and its subsequent stagnation. This dynamic is consistent with a macroeconomy that is in tension and a purchasing power of Argentine households that showed a new contraction in the second month of the year. In fact, the CI was located in February more than 1% below the comparison with the pre-pandemic,” explained the chamber.
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Analysis by sector
– The heading of clothing and footwear showed an estimated fall of 16.8% yoy in February (with a negative contribution of one percentage point —pp— to the increase of 0.8% yoy of the CI), once again accounting for the loss of dynamism throughout 2022 that gradually it became accentuated, accompanied by a relative increase in the prices of the sector in the year-on-year comparison. The consumption of this category was more than 20% below the levels in force prior to the health disruption.
– On the other hand, the chapter of transport and vehicles It showed an estimated growth of 3.2% yoy in February (with an incidence of 0.4 pp in the interannual variation of the CI), although it was located at values almost 4% lower in comparison with the pre-pandemic. This occurs within the framework of a process of deceleration and cooling of the sector that continues to this day, with car and motorcycle registrations that barely grew 1.8% and 3.3% yoy, respectively.
– recreation and culture still shows significant growth rates (with an estimated increase of 26.2% yoy in February and a contribution to the QI of 1.8 pp), as a consequence of the abrupt falls seen as a result of the pandemic and a process of reopening and recovery which was slower than in other sectors.
– Regarding the section of housing, rents and utilitiesthis showed an estimated increase of 4.8% yoy in the second month of the year (with a contribution of 0.8 pp to the CI), standing more than 15% above the levels prior to the health disruption.
Regarding the rest of the items, these experienced an estimated contraction of 2% yoy in February (and a negative incidence of 1.2 pp), positioning themselves at levels of more than 5% below the comparison with 2019.
Source: Ambito
