Argentina’s economy recovery slowed to a crawl in December

Argentina’s economic recovery sputtered out in December, tallying its worst month since the start of the pandemic.

Economic growth month-over-month slowed to a crawl of 0.9 percent growth, down from 1.4 percent in November. After a short-lived bounce-back from the pandemic in May, the country still tallied an annual descent of 2.2 percent from December 2019, according to data published Wednesday by the INDEC national statistics bureau.

The decline has been driven largely by hotels and restaurants, which recorded a dramatic 47 percent drop on an annual basis – by far the hardest hit sector. The slide was further pushed by transportation and social activities, with both sectors registering double-digit drops year-over-year.

Argentina likely contracted 10.9 percent for all of last year, according to a Central Bank survey, which would be in line with the country’s worst annual drop on record.

Economists surveyed by the central bank expect South America’s second largest economy to grow 5.5 percent this year, though on a quarterly basis activity is projected to be below one percent in the first half of this year.