Argentina - Economic Indicators

Southern South America, bordering the South Atlantic Ocean, between Chile and Uruguay

34 00 S, 64 00 W

South America

slightly less than three-tenths the size of the US

4,989 km

mostly temperate; arid in southeast; subantarctic in southwest

rich plains of the Pampas in northern half, flat to rolling plateau of Patagonia in south, rugged Andes along western border

highest point: Cerro Aconcagua 6,962 m (located in the northwestern corner of the province of Mendoza; highest point in South America)

fertile plains of the pampas, lead, zinc, tin, copper, iron ore, manganese, petroleum, uranium, arable land

arable land 13.9%; permanent crops 0.4%; permanent pasture 39.6%

23,600 sq km (2012)

one-third of the population lives in Buenos Aires; pockets of agglomeration occur throughout the northern and central parts of the country; Patagonia to the south remains sparsely populated

San Miguel de Tucuman and Mendoza areas in the Andes subject to earthquakes; pamperos are violent windstorms that can strike the pampas and northeast; heavy flooding in some areas

environmental problems (urban and rural) typical of an industrializing economy such as deforestation, soil degradation (erosion, salinization), desertification, air pollution, and water pollution

second-largest country in South America (after Brazil); strategic location relative to sea lanes between the South Atlantic and the South Pacific Oceans (Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel, Drake Passage); diverse geophysical landscapes range from tropical climates in the north to tundra in the far south; Cerro Aconcagua is the Western Hemisphere's tallest mountain, while Laguna del Carbon is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere; shares Iguazu Falls, the world's largest waterfalls system, with Brazil

44,293,293 (July 2017 est.)

European (mostly Spanish and Italian descent) and mestizo (mixed European and Amerindian ancestry) 97.2%, Amerindian 2.4%, African 0.4% (2010 est.)

Spanish (official), Italian, English, German, French, indigenous (Mapudungun, Quechua)

nominally Roman Catholic 92% (less than 20% practicing), Protestant 2%, Jewish 2%, other 4%

Argentina's population continues to grow but at a slower rate because of its steadily declining birth rate. Argentina's fertility decline began earlier than in the rest of Latin America, occurring most rapidly between the early 20th century and the 1950s and then becoming more gradual. Life expectancy has been improving, most notably among the young and the poor. While the population under age 15 is shrinking, the youth cohort - ages 15-24 - is the largest in Argentina's history and will continue to bolster the working-age population. If this large working-age population is well-educated and gainfully employed, Argentina is likely to experience an economic boost and possibly higher per capita savings and investment. Although literacy and primary school enrollment are nearly universal, grade repetition is problematic and secondary school completion is low. Both of these issues vary widely by region and socioeconomic group.

Argentina has been primarily a country of immigration for most of its history, welcoming European immigrants (often providing needed low-skilled labor) after its independence in the 19th century and attracting especially large numbers from Spain and Italy. More than 7 million European immigrants are estimated to have arrived in Argentina between 1880 and 1930, when it adopted a more restrictive immigration policy. European immigration also began to wane in the 1930s because of the global depression. The inflow rebounded temporarily following WWII and resumed its decline in the 1950s when Argentina’s military dictators tightened immigration rules and European economies rebounded. Regional migration increased, however, supplying low-skilled workers escaping economic and political instability in their home countries. As of 2015, immigrants made up almost 5% of Argentina’s population, the largest share in South America. Migration from neighboring countries accounted for approximately 80% of Argentina’s immigrant population in 2015.

The first waves of highly skilled Argentine emigrant workers headed mainly to the United States and Spain in the 1960s and 1970s, driven by economic decline and repressive military dictatorships. The 2008 European economic crisis drove the return migration of some Argentinean and other Latin American nationals, as well as the immigration of Europeans to South America, where Argentina was a key recipient. In 2015, Argentina received the highest number of legal migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean. The majority of its migrant inflow came from Paraguay and Bolivia.

0.91% (2017 est.)

16.7 births/1,000 population (2017 est.)

7.5 deaths/1,000 population (2017 est.)

-0.1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2017 est.)

one-third of the population lives in Buenos Aires; pockets of agglomeration occur throughout the northern and central parts of the country; Patagonia to the south remains sparsely populated

BUENOS AIRES (capital) 15.18 million; Cordoba 1.511 million; Rosario 1.381 million; Mendoza 1.009 million; San Miguel de Tucuman 910,000; La Plata 846,000 (2015)

52 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)

2.26 children born/woman (2017 est.)

81.3% (2013)

4.8% of GDP (2014)

3.91 physicians/1,000 population (2013)

5 beds/1,000 population (2014)

urban: 99% of population

rural: 100% of population

total: 99.1% of population

urban: 1% of population

rural: 0% of population

total: 0.9% of population (2015 est.)

urban: 96.2% of population

rural: 98.3% of population

total: 96.4% of population

urban: 3.8% of population

rural: 1.7% of population

total: 3.6% of population (2015 est.)

0.4% (2016 est.)

120,000 (2016 est.)

2,400 (2016 est.)

28.3% (2016)

2.3% (2005)

5.9% of GDP (2015)

presidential republic

23 provinces (provincias, singular - provincia) and 1 autonomous city*; Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chaco, Chubut, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires*, Cordoba, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Jujuy, La Pampa, La Rioja, Mendoza, Misiones, Neuquen, Rio Negro, Salta, San Juan, San Luis, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Tierra del Fuego - Antartida e Islas del Atlantico Sur (Tierra del Fuego), Tucuman

9 July 1816 (from Spain)

Revolution Day (May Revolution Day), 25 May (1810)

several previous; latest effective 11 May 1853; amended many times, last in 1994 (2016)

civil law system based on West European legal systems; note - in mid-2015, Argentina adopted a new civil code, replacing the old one in force since 1871

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18-70 years of age; universal and compulsory; 16-17 years of age - optional for national elections

Cambiemos [Mauricio MACRI] (coalition of CC-ARI, PRO, and UCR)

Citizen's Unity or UC [Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER]

Civic Coalition ARI or CC-ARI [ Elisa CARRIO]

Civic Front for Santiago or FCS [Gerardo ZAMORA]

Dissident Peronists (PJ Disidente) or Federal Peronism (a right-wing faction of PJ which is opposed to the Kirchners) [Eduardo DUHALDE]

Front for the Renewal of Concord or FRC

Front for Victory or FpV (left-wing faction of PJ) [Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER]

Justicialist Party or PJ [Jose Luis GIOJA]

Progresistas [Margarita STOLBIZER]

Radical Civic Union or UCR [Lilia PUIG DE STUBRIN]

Renewal Front (Frente Renovador) or FR [Sergio MASSA]

Republican Proposal or PRO [Mauricio MACRI]

Socialist Party or PS [Antonio BONFATTI]

United for a New Alternative or UNA (includes FR)

numerous provincial parties

Argentine Association of Pharmaceutical Labs or CILFA

Argentine Industrial Union (manufacturers' association)

Argentine Rural Confederation or CRA (small to medium landowners' association)

Argentine Rural Society (large landowners' association)

Blue and White CGT (dissident CGT labor confederation)

Central of Argentine Workers or CTA (a union for employed and unemployed workers)

General Confederation of Labor or CGT (Peronist-leaning umbrella labor organization)

Roman Catholic Church

AfDB (nonregional member), Australia Group, BCIE, BIS, CAN (associate), CD, CELAC, FAO, FATF, G-15, G-20, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, Mercosur, MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, NAM (observer), NSG, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Paris Club (associate), PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina (observer), UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

three equal horizontal bands of sky blue (top), white, and sky blue; centered in the white band is a radiant yellow sun with a human face (delineated in brown) known as the Sun of May; the colors represent the clear skies and snow of the Andes; the sun symbol commemorates the appearance of the sun through cloudy skies on 25 May 1810 during the first mass demonstration in favor of independence; the sun features are those of Inti, the Inca god of the sun

Sun of May (a sun-with-face symbol); national colors: sky blue, white

Argentina benefits from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. Although one of the world's wealthiest countries 100 years ago, Argentina suffered during most of the 20th century from recurring economic crises, persistent fiscal and current account deficits, high inflation, mounting external debt, and capital flight. In 2016, the World Bank downgraded Argentina from a high-income to upper-middle-income economy, on par with Columbia.

A severe depression, growing public and external indebtedness, and an unprecedented bank run culminated in 2001 in the most serious economic, social, and political crisis in the country's turbulent history. Interim President Adolfo RODRIGUEZ SAA declared a default - at the time the largest ever - on the government's foreign debt in December of that year, and abruptly resigned only a few days after taking office. His successor, Eduardo DUHALDE, announced an end to the peso's decade-long 1-to-1 peg to the US dollar in early 2002. The economy bottomed out that year, with real GDP 18% smaller than in 1998 and almost 60% of Argentines below the poverty line. Real GDP rebounded to grow by an average 8.5% annually over the subsequent six years, taking advantage of previously idled industrial capacity and labor, and expansionary monetary and fiscal policies. Inflation also increased, however, during the administration of President Nestor KIRCHNER, which responded with price restraints on businesses, as well as export taxes and restraints, and beginning in 2007, with understating inflation data.

Cristina FERNANDEZ DE KIRCHNER succeeded her husband as president in late 2007, and the rapid economic growth of previous years began to slow sharply the following year as government policies held back exports and the world economy fell into recession. The economy in 2010 rebounded strongly from the 2009 recession, but slowed in late 2011 even as the government continued to rely on expansionary fiscal and monetary policies, which kept inflation in the double digits.

In order to deal with these problems, the government expanded state intervention in the economy: it nationalized the oil company YPF from Spain's Repsol, expanded measures to restrict imports, and further tightened currency controls in an effort to bolster foreign reserves and stem capital flight. Between 2011 and 2013, Central Bank foreign reserves dropped $21.3 billion from a high of $52.7 billion. In July 2014, Argentina and China agreed on an $11 billion currency swap; the Argentine Central Bank has received the equivalent of $3.2 billion in Chinese yuan, which it counts as international reserves.

With the election of President Mauricio MACRI in November 2015, Argentina began a historic political and economic transformation, as his administration took steps to liberalize the Argentine economy, lifting capital controls, floating the peso, removing export controls on some commodities, cutting some energy subsidies, and reforming the country’s official statistics. Argentina negotiated debt payments with holdout bond creditors and returned to international capital markets in April 2016. In September 2016, Argentina completed its first IMF Article IV Consultation since 2006.

After years of international isolation, Argentina took on several international leadership roles in 2017, including hosting the World Economic Forum on Latin America and the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference, and is set to assume the presidency of the G-20 in 2018.

$911.5 billion (2017 est.)

$889.5 billion (2016 est.)

$910 billion (2015 est.)

$619.9 billion (2017 est.)

2.5% (2017 est.)

-2.2% (2016 est.)

2.6% (2015 est.)

$20,700 (2017 est.)

$20,400 (2016 est.)

$21,100 (2015 est.)

12.8% of GDP (2017 est.)

13.6% of GDP (2016 est.)

14.2% of GDP (2015 est.)

sunflower seeds, lemons, soybeans, grapes, corn, tobacco, peanuts, tea, wheat; livestock

food processing, motor vehicles, consumer durables, textiles, chemicals and petrochemicals, printing, metallurgy, steel

2.4%

18 million

8.1% (2017 est.)

8.5% (2016 est.)

32.2%

42.7 (2014 est.)

45.8 (2009 est.)

19.9% of GDP (2017 est.)

-6.1% of GDP (2017 est.)

53.7% of GDP (2017 est.)

54.5% of GDP (2016 est.)

calendar year

26.9% (2017 est.)

26.5% (2015 est.)

NA%

24.5% (31 December 2017 est.)

31.23% (31 December 2016 est.)

$62.95 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$59 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$166.9 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$146.5 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$216.7 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$194 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$56.13 billion (31 December 2015 est.)

$60.14 billion (31 December 2014 est.)

$53.1 billion (31 December 2013 est.)

$-22.13 billion (2017 est.)

$-14.9 billion (2016 est.)

$59.69 billion (2017 est.)

$57.78 billion (2016 est.)

soybeans and derivatives, petroleum and gas, vehicles, corn, wheat

Brazil 15.5%, US 7.7%, China 7.6%, Vietnam 4.4% (2016)

$60.78 billion (2017 est.)

$53.24 billion (2016 est.)

machinery, motor vehicles, petroleum and natural gas, organic chemicals, plastics

Brazil 24.3%, China 18.7%, US 12.5%, Germany 5.5% (2016)

$52.97 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$38.43 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$208.6 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$190.2 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$84.14 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$72.11 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

$40.94 billion (31 December 2017 est.)

$39.74 billion (31 December 2016 est.)

Argentine pesos (ARS) per US dollar -

16.92 (2017 est.)

14.76 (2016 est.)

14.76 (2015 est.)

9.23 (2014 est.)

8.08 (2013 est.)

133.8 billion kWh (2015 est.)

122.5 billion kWh (2015 est.)

55 million kWh (2015 est.)

9.018 billion kWh (2015 est.)

38.19 million kW (2015 est.)

66.9% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

4.3% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

23.8% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

2.5% of total installed capacity (2015 est.)

510,600 bbl/day (2016 est.)

38,600 bbl/day (2014 est.)

10,180 bbl/day (2014 est.)

2.185 billion bbl (1 January 2017 est.)

687,100 bbl/day (2014 est.)

803,000 bbl/day (2015 est.)

52,500 bbl/day (2014 est.)

145,000 bbl/day (2014 est.)

36.4 billion cu m (2015 est.)

72.03 billion cu m (2015 est.)

80 million cu m (2015 est.)

10.67 billion cu m (2015 est.)

316.4 billion cu m (1 January 2017 est.)

202 million Mt (2013 est.)

government owns a TV station and radio network; more than 2 dozen TV stations and hundreds of privately owned radio stations; high rate of cable TV subscription usage (2009)

.ar

LV (2016)

1,138 (2013)

2 (2013)

gas 29,930 km; liquid petroleum gas 41 km; oil 6,248 km; refined products 3,631 km (2013)

11,000 km (2012)

0.95% of GDP (2016)

0.86% of GDP (2015)

0.88% of GDP (2014)

0.84% of GDP (2013)

0.78% of GDP (2012)

Argentine Army (Ejercito Argentino), Navy of the Argentine Republic (Armada Republica; includes naval aviation and naval infantry), Argentine Air Force (Fuerza Aerea Argentina, FAA) (2013)

18-24 years of age for voluntary military service (18-21 requires parental consent); no conscription; if the number of volunteers fails to meet the quota of recruits for a particular year, Congress can authorize the conscription of citizens turning 18 that year for a period not exceeding one year (2012)

the Argentine military is a well-organized force constrained by the country's prolonged economic hardship; the country has recently experienced a strong recovery, and the military is implementing a modernization plan aimed at making the ground forces lighter and more responsive (2008)

Argentina continues to assert its claims to the UK-administered Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas), South Georgia, and the South Sandwich Islands in its constitution, forcibly occupying the Falklands in 1982, but in 1995 agreed to no longer seek settlement by force; UK continues to reject Argentine requests for sovereignty talks; territorial claim in Antarctica partially overlaps UK and Chilean claims; uncontested dispute between Brazil and Uruguay over Braziliera/Brasiliera Island in the Quarai/Cuareim River leaves the tripoint with Argentina in question; in 2010, the ICJ ruled in favor of Uruguay's operation of two paper mills on the Uruguay River, which forms the border with Argentina; the two countries formed a joint pollution monitoring regime; the joint boundary commission, established by Chile and Argentina in 2001 has yet to map and demarcate the delimited boundary in the inhospitable Andean Southern Ice Field (Campo de Hielo Sur); contraband smuggling, human trafficking, and illegal narcotic trafficking are problems in the porous areas of the border with Bolivia

a transshipment country for cocaine headed for Europe, heroin headed for the US, and ephedrine and pseudoephedrine headed for Mexico; some money-laundering activity, especially in the Tri-Border Area; law enforcement corruption; a source for precursor chemicals; increasing domestic consumption of drugs in urban centers, especially cocaine base and synthetic drugs