Argentina's October inflation hits 2.2%, highest since April

Argentina's consumer price index rose 2.2 percent in October, the national statistics agency Indec reported on Thursday. The increase exceeded private forecasts and marked the steepest monthly rise since April.

Prices accumulated a 26.3 percent increase in the first ten months of 2026, while the year-on-year variation reached 33.1 percent. Private analysts had expected monthly inflation between 1.8 percent and 2.1 percent.

“The basic food basket, which determines the indigence threshold, rose 3.1 percent, while the total basic basket, used to measure poverty, advanced 3.5 percent.”

Core inflation slowed to 1.5 percent, its lowest monthly variation since July 2025. Seasonal prices rose 5.5 percent and regulated prices rose 2.9 percent, both above the general average.

The basic food basket rose 3.1 percent and the total basic basket advanced 3.5 percent. Both baskets exceeded overall inflation and accumulated increases of 29.1 percent in the first ten months of the year.

Food prices, especially vegetables, and natural gas tariff hikes driven by subsidy cuts under the Cold Zone regime drove the acceleration. The basic food basket rose 39.9 percent and the total basic basket rose 39.2 percent year-on-year.