Empty shopfronts on rise in Buenos Aires as retail crisis deepens

Argentina’s Cámara Argentina de Comercio y Servicios (CAC) has confirmed a sharp annual rise in the number of commercial properties available for rent in Buenos Aires City, highlighting the retail crisis facing the nation’s shopkeepers.

A survey by CAC, the national chamber for commerce and services, indicates that the number of empty commercial premises in the main shopping areas of the capital rose by 30.7 percent between March and April 2026 when compared to the same period of 2025.

During the March-April  two-month period in 2026, a total of 277 premises listed for sale, rent or closed were identified in the surveyed areas. Compared to the previous survey for the January-February period, the figure actually represented a 2.5-percent decline on the 284 vacant premises recorded in the earlier period.

CAC’s rental market analysis showed a 102.2-percent increase compared to the second two-month period of 2025 and a 5.7-percent rise against January-February 2026.

As for premises listed for sale, the survey recorded a 40.9-percent drop compared to the same two-month period last year and a 27.8-percent decline compared to the previous two-month period.

The data analysed by the CAC stemmed from a survey conducted by the Federación de Mayoristas y Proveedores del Estado de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (Federation of Wholesalers and Suppliers of Buenos Aires Province, or FEMAPE).

The study found that during March to April 2026, compared to the same survey period in 2025, the number of inactive premises – including properties for sale, for rent, shuttered or simply closed – rose by 100 percent in the main commercial areas of La Plata.

Compared to the previous two-month period of January to February of this year, the figure rose by 28.6 percent.

– TIMES/NA