The Argentine minimum wage (SMVM, according to its acronym in Spanish) has been a historic reference point for salary negotiations in the country in the formal as well as the informal sector.
That benchmark, however, has changed drastically since President Javier Milei took office in December 2023. Since then, the SMVM has experienced a steady decline in purchasing power and is currently at its lowest level since the 1990s.
According to estimates by the Center for Studies on Education in the Argentine Republic (CIFRA), affiliated with the Argentine Workers’ Central Union (CTA), the minimum wage has seen a cumulative decline of more than 40% in purchasing power since the libertarian government took office.
“The severe impact of inflation in the first few months [of the Milei administration] caused an initial 30% decline that was not reversed; on the contrary, consecutive monthly contractions have been recorded for the past two years,” the study noted.
With a nominal value of AR$367,800 (US$243.5 at the official exchange rate), minimum wage purchasing power is currently 60% lower than in 2015 and 20% below the levels of the 1990s.
