Economic activity recorded its sharpest contraction since December 2023 in February, falling 2.6 percent compared with January, according to Argentina’s INDEC national statistics bureau.
INDEC’s monthly economic activity estimator (EMAE) fell 2.6 percent compared with January in seasonally adjusted terms, while posting a 2.1 percent decline year-on-year. The decline matches the drop seen in the final month of 2023, marking the worst monthly performance since then.
The data points to a continued split between sectors driving growth and those dragging on the index. Agriculture, mining and financial intermediation remain above the EMAE average, while industry and commerce continue to struggle.
Compared with February 2025, eight of the sectors that make up the EMAE recorded growth. Fishing led the gains with a 14.8 percent rise, followed by mining and quarrying, which expanded 9.9 percent.
Mining and quarrying had the strongest positive impact on the annual variation, with agriculture, livestock, hunting and forestry also contributing, up 8.4 percent year-on-year. Together, the two sectors added 0.8 percentage points to the overall annual result.
However, the broader picture was weighed down by declines in seven sectors.
Manufacturing industry fell 8.7 percent year-on-year, while wholesale and retail trade, along with repairs, dropped seven percent. “These two sectors subtracted 2.2 percentage points from the year-on-year variation of the EMAE,” the INDEC report said.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo said that despite the February contraction, the underlying trend remains positive. He attributed part of the decline to calendar effects, noting that 2026 had two fewer working days than 2025 and was also affected by a general strike.
The figures underline the uneven nature of the recovery, with export-linked sectors such as mining and agriculture offset by persistent weakness in domestic demand, particularly in industry and commerce.
– TIMES/NA/PERFIL
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