In the second quarter the economy fell again year-on-year and also compared to the immediately preceding quarter. Thus, Argentina’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 3.4% in the first half of 2024compared to the same period in 2023.
According to the report “progress of the level of activity” of the INDEC, Between April and June the economy fell by 1.7% both year-on-year and in relation to the period January-March of this year. Although activity continued to struggle, the declines slowed when compared to the figures in the previous report.
Given that, at the lowest level of GDP, a 22.5% collapse in imports of real goods and servicesglobal supply posted an annual decline of 6.4% in the second quarter.
At the sector level, the most significant negative variations were seen in the manufacturing industry (-17.4%), trade (-15.7%) and construction (-22.2%)also highlighting the decline in financial intermediation.
At the far end, The agricultural sector showed an extraordinary improvement of 81.2% and managed to cushion the general contraction, although it is worth highlighting the low comparison base due to the drought in 2023. The mining and hydrocarbon sector was the second that had the most positive impact on GDP, with an increase of 6.6% in its activity.
From the aggregate demand side, It was investment that showed the greatest deterioration, with a drop of 29.4% compared to the second quarter of 2023. Likewise, the consumption fell 9.8%, and the public spending did so by 6%, while the exports They jumped by 31.4%, thus helping to counteract the cooling of the domestic market.
With these numbers, the economy added its third consecutive quarter in recessionThe latest estimates seem to indicate that the April-June period saw a bottom, although the recovery has so far been very unstable.
Economic activity in “saw” mode
Looking ahead to upcoming reports, July was a month with encouraging data in terms of economic activity. Automobile production grew 47.5% monthly, cement shipments climbed 17.2% and credit to the private sector showed a real increase of 13.1%.
However, In August, deterioration was observed in the indicators of the automotive sector, construction and electricity consumption by large industrial users, according to a recent report by the Argentine Industrial Union.
Source: Ambito
