Mass consumption fell 20.4% year-on-year in April as a result of the persistent loss of purchasing power of wage earnerswhich impacted the volumes of retail purchases.
When compared to March, the decline in purchases was 17.1%as emerged from the survey by the consulting firm Focus Market via Scanntech (code reader in 756 points of sale throughout the country)
The number of tickets fell 8.9% compared to the previous month and 11.2% compared to the previous year. Units per ticket fell 4.5% year-on-year to 4.2 units per ticket and 13.2% compared to March 2024 to 4 units per ticket.
“April has been a complex month for the pockets of Argentines. The increase in public service rates despite the slowdown in the rise in the price of goods leaves little surplus to maintain spending at constant values. “Volumes continue to decline with fewer tickets at points of sale and fewer purchase units per ticket,” he noted. Damian Di Pace Focus Market Director
In that sense, he added that “Although the joint ventures begin to have a positive recovery this month compared to the price variation of the month, it is still not enough to rebuild purchasing power. At the same time, we must take into account that many Argentines depend on income that is not constant and does not have any parity.”
The report stated that the Self-Independent store format presents a greater drop in consumption compared to the previous month, with -20.1% ($6,862 of average ticket and 5.2 units per ticket). Large self-service fell only -14.4%, with an average ticket of $4,292 and 4.6 units per ticket.
“In the month of April, mass consumption falls more than in the month of March. Obviously we are going to the next few months where the correction of the relative prices of the economy, such as rates for public and private services, begin to erode the spending capacity of many households. Argentines”said Di Pace.
In the Metropolitan area, the trend is a decline of -19.3% year-on-year and -15.9% compared to March 2024. For its part, in the interior of the country, mass consumption falls 21.1% and 17.8% year-on-year. % compared to March 2024
According to the report for Total Basket inflation for the month of April was 3.4%. The Food segment had an average increase of 3.2%, Beverages 7.6%, Personal Care 3.9% and Cleaning 1.9%. Interannual inflation registered 295%. In the month of April 2024, compared to the previous month, categories with deflation were recorded in Food: -7.0% in Sugar and -2.2% in Oils, within the first top 5 in consumption of the month.
Source: Ambito
