Cost of living in Argentina in 2026: official baskets, inflation, rents, services and what it costs an expat household

Key rules

Living costs in Argentina are mostly set by markets, but several legal rules shape what a household pays and how it can protect itself.

1. The poverty and extreme poverty lines are INDEC's CBT and CBA. INDEC values the CBA every month with the prices collected for the GBA CPI and expands it to the CBT by applying the Engel coefficient, "the ratio between food spending and total spending observed in the reference population" (INDEC, Valorización mensual de la CBA y de la CBT, September 2026, methodological note). The basket composition comes from the 1996/97 household expenditure survey (ENGHo), validated against the 2004/05 ENGHo (same note, Cuadro 3). The method is INDEC Methodology No. 22.
2. The CPI is a national index with six regional indices. Base December 2016 = 100, 39 urban areas, about 320,000 prices a month, weights from the 2004/05 household expenditure survey, 12 COICOP divisions (INDEC, IPC September 2026, methodological note and Cuadros 24 to 26). There is no separate official CPI for the City of Buenos Aires in the files (see Gaps).
3. Leases: freedom of contract since DNU 70/2023. DNU 70/2023 (BO 21 December 2023) repealed Law 27.551 (art. 249) and replaced CCyC art. 1196 (deposit amount and currency are free; payment period at least monthly, art. 255), art. 1198 (term as agreed; two years for permanent housing if no term is set, art. 256), art. 1199 (rent may be in pesos or foreign currency; any public or private index may be agreed; art. 10 of Law 23.928 does not apply to leases, art. 257) and art. 1221 (tenant may terminate at any time by paying 10% of the remaining rent, art. 262). The full analysis is on the leases page.
4. Foreign currency obligations are enforceable in the agreed currency. DNU 70/2023 replaced CCyC art. 765 ("The debtor is only released if it delivers the amounts committed in the agreed currency. Judges may not modify the form of payment or the currency agreed by the parties", art. 250) and art. 766 (art. 251). This is the legal basis for rents, school fees and other prices quoted in US dollars.
5. Prepaga prices are free; age bands are capped. DNU 70/2023 art. 267 repealed Law 26.682 art. 5 g) and m), 6, 18, 19, 25 a) and 27, and art. 269 replaced art. 17: prepagas may set different prices by age band "with a maximum variation of three (3) times between the price of the first and the last age band". SSSalud states that since DNU 70/2023 and Res. 1926/2024 it "has no competence over the value of plans or co-payments" (argentina.gob.ar/sssalud/valores-de-planes). Under SSSalud Res. 645/2025 prepagas must report their prices within five days after INDEC publishes the CPI (same page). See the healthcare page.
6. Minimum wage. CNEPYSMVYM Res. 4/2026 (dated 1 September 2026) art. 1 sets the monthly minimum wage for full time workers at ARS 383,800 from 1 September 2026, ARS 391,200 from 1 October 2026 and ARS 398,800 from 1 November 2026, with further monthly steps to April 2027, under Law 24.013 art. 140.
7. Deposit insurance. The deposit guarantee covers capital, interest and CER or UVA adjustment up to ARS 50,000,000 per person across all accounts and deposits in one entity, shared pro rata on joint accounts (BCRA ordered text Aplicación del sistema de seguro de garantía de los depósitos, points 5.3.1 to 5.3.3, last communication incorporated "A" 8407). ARS 50,000,000 is US$ 31,971.35.
8. Interest on bank deposits is income tax exempt for resident individuals. Income Tax Law (ITL) art. 26 h) exempts interest on savings accounts, special savings accounts and term deposits for resident individuals and undivided estates. Law 27.802 art. 191 (BO 6 March 2026) replaced "term deposits in national currency" with "term deposits", for fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2026, so the exemption now reaches dollar term deposits too. Non residents and companies should check their own position (unconfirmed).
9. Education access. Foreigners have the right to be admitted as pupils in initial, primary and secondary schools, public or private, "even when their migratory status is irregular" (Law 25.871 art. 7). Fees in private schools are covered on the schools page (unconfirmed).
10. Housing leases are exempt from CABA stamp tax. CABA Tax Code (T.O. 2026, Decree 172/2026 Annex) art. 365(6) exempts "lease contracts of real estate for housing, except leases and subleases of furnished homes let for tourist purposes"; art. 365(7) exempts bank guarantees on single family housing leases. Other provinces have their own rules (unconfirmed).

Official basic baskets, September 2026

What the baskets measure

The CBA is the monthly food needed by an "adult equivalent", defined as a man aged 30 to 60 with moderate activity, to meet his energy and protein requirements, using foods chosen from actual consumption habits. The CBT adds non food goods and services (clothing, transport, education, health and so on) by multiplying the CBA by the inverse of the Engel coefficient. In September 2026 the CBT per adult equivalent was exactly 2.21 times the CBA (528,318.67 / 239,058.22; our calculation from INDEC Cuadros 1 and 2).

The CBA for a household is the per adult value times the number of adult equivalents in it. INDEC publishes values only for Greater Buenos Aires in this report; INDEC regional baskets for other regions are not in the source files (unconfirmed).

What the baskets are not: they are not a measure of what a middle class or expatriate household spends. They include no rent at market level for a specific home, no private health plan, no private school, and their food list (Cuadro 3: bread 6,750 g, potatoes 6,510 g, meat 6,270 g, milk 9,270 g, yerba 510 g and so on per month) reflects a 1990s low income diet. They are best used as an official floor and as an index of how fast essential prices move.

Table 1. CBA and CBT, GBA, September 2026 (official, INDEC)

Source: INDEC, CBA and CBT GBA, September 2026, Cuadros 1 and 2. Household 1: woman 35, her son 18 and her mother 61. Household 2: man 35, woman 31, son 6, daughter 8. Household 3: man and woman both 30, three children aged 1, 3 and 5.

Table 2. Monthly path of the baskets, September 2025 to September 2026 (official)

Source: INDEC, Cuadros 1 and 2. Note that the year on year rise of the baskets (38.7% to 40.0%) is higher than the year on year rise of the national CPI (33.4%): food and the goods in the CBT have risen faster than the average consumer basket over the last twelve months.

Table 3. INDEC adult equivalent units by sex and age (official, exactly as in the INDEC file, Cuadro 4)

The reference unit is the energy requirement of 2,750 kcal of the adult man. INDEC's decimals use a comma in the original (0,35); they are shown with a point here.

Consumer prices, September 2026

Headline, core and categories

National CPI rose 1.9% in September 2026, 23.6% since December 2025 and 33.4% on September 2025 (INDEC, IPC September 2026, executive summary). By category, core CPI rose 1.7% in the month (21.8% year to date, 31.6% year on year), seasonal items 2.9% (20.3%, 24.9%) and regulated prices 2.3% (31.5%, 43.3%). INDEC names gas, electricity and prepaga fees as the main regulated increases of the month. Goods rose 1.7% in the month and 29.2% year on year; services rose 2.4% and 41.9% (Cuadros 4 to 6 and 13 to 15).

Monthly national CPI over the last twelve months (executive summary chart): October 2025 2.3%, November 2.5%, December 2.8%, January 2026 2.9%, February 2.9%, March 3.4%, April 2.6%, May 2.1%, June 1.9%, July 2.1%, August 1.7%, September 1.9%. The BCRA API series 27 gives the same figures.

Table 4. CPI by division: national and GBA (official, INDEC)

Source: INDEC IPC September 2026, Cuadros 1, 2, 3 and 24.

Table 5. Items that matter for an expat budget, GBA (official, INDEC Cuadros 21 to 23)

Table 6. CPI by region, September 2026 (official)

Source: INDEC Cuadros 1 to 3. In the Northeast, housing and utilities rose 76.9% year on year and electricity, gas and fuels 94.7%, the largest increases in any region.

How to use the CPI

• To index a contract. The CPI is the index most landlords, schools and service contracts refer to. Use the national level general unless the contract says GBA or a division. Under CCyC art. 1199 any index is valid for leases if the parties agree; if the chosen index stops being published, a similar INDEC index applies for peso rents.
• To compare regions. INDEC warns that its average prices (Cuadro 19) are not comparable across regions because product specifications are not harmonised. Use the indices for changes, not the price tables for levels.
• To read your own inflation. An expat household spends a much larger share on rent, services, private health and education than the 2004/05 survey weights imply. In the last twelve months those items rose faster (rent 40.4%, prepagas 34.2%, education 41.1%, electricity and gas 55.8% in GBA) than the general level (33.5%). Your personal inflation was very likely higher than the headline.

Selected GBA prices, September 2026 (official, INDEC Cuadro 20)

These average prices help reality check a food budget. Bread (pan francés) ARS 4,958.05 per kg (US$ 3.17); minced beef ARS 10,713.74 per kg (US$ 6.85); asado ARS 16,836.34 per kg (US$ 10.77); whole chicken ARS 4,787.75 per kg (US$ 3.06); fresh whole milk ARS 2,071.04 per litre (US$ 1.32); a dozen eggs ARS 3,940.50 (US$ 2.52); sunflower oil 1.5 litres ARS 6,981.99 (US$ 4.46); ground coffee 500 g ARS 14,027.98 (US$ 8.97); yerba mate 500 g ARS 2,652.39 (US$ 1.70); cola 1.5 litres ARS 3,806.44 (US$ 2.43); 10 disposable nappies ARS 4,709.66 (US$ 3.01). Tomatoes rose 34.1% and onions 24.6% in September alone, a reminder that seasonal items swing sharply.

Comparing living costs with income

What the EPH income survey says (second quarter 2026)

INDEC's Permanent Household Survey (EPH) for the second quarter of 2026 (April to June) covers 31 urban areas with 30.2 million people and 10.3 million households (INDEC, Evolución de la distribución del ingreso (EPH), 2Q 2026, Cuadros 1 and 7). Key official figures:

Sources: INDEC EPH income report 2Q 2026, executive summary and Cuadros 1, 3, 5.1, 6.1, 6.2 and 7. USD values convert second quarter pesos at the October 2026 MEP rate, which overstates their dollar value at the time; they are shown only for orientation. For total family income, INDEC publishes deciles but the extract used here shows no separate median column; the upper limit of decile 5 (ARS 1,580,000) is the income at or below which half of the households sit, which INDEC itself uses as the median in the main occupation table. The average household has 2.9 members, with 122 non employed persons per 100 employed (Cuadro 8). Labour income is 78.1% of household income. The Gini coefficient of per capita family income was 0.428.

Other second quarter 2026 labour market figures (INDEC, Mercado de trabajo. Tasas e indicadores socioeconómicos (EPH), 2Q 2026): activity rate 48.9%, employment rate 45.0%, unemployment 7.9%; informality rose 1.0 percentage point on the year.

Table 7. Income versus basket (our calculations from INDEC figures)

To compare like with like we use the average CBT of the second quarter (April, May and June 2026): ARS 485,434.97 per adult equivalent and ARS 1,499,994.07 for INDEC Household 2. We also show September values for a current reading.

Caveats, stated openly:

• Adult equivalents are not persons. Per capita income divides by persons; the CBT is per adult equivalent. Because children and women count for less than 1.00, per capita comparisons understate how many baskets a family income buys. The household comparison with Household 2 is more meaningful.
• Different geography. The baskets are for GBA; the income figures are for 31 urban areas. Incomes and prices in GBA differ from the national average (unconfirmed).
• Income is under reported in household surveys. INDEC's EPH captures declared income; this is a general feature of such surveys and is not quantified in the files (unconfirmed).
• Real income trend. The mean income of registered wage earners rose 26.5% year on year to the second quarter, while the CPI rose 33.5% year on year to June 2026. On those two figures, registered wages lost about 5% in real terms over the year (1.265 / 1.335 = 0.948). This is a rough comparison of a quarterly survey mean with a monthly index.

The practical message for an employer: a local salary at the median main occupation income (ARS 900,000 in the second quarter) covers less than two adult CBTs, and a single earner household on the median household income sits just above the poverty line for a family of four. Expat packages are priced on a different scale (see the budget model).

Interest rates, savings and inflation

Table 8. BCRA rates versus inflation (official figures, our real rate calculation)

The backward looking real rate compares today's deposit rate with past inflation and is mainly a measure of how much savers lost; the forward looking rate depends on a forecast that may be wrong. Deposit rates moved sharply in the last year: the 30-day rate was 54.57% on 1 September 2025, 43.30% on 27 October 2025, 25.10% on 26 March 2026 and around 20% to 22% from April 2026 (BCRA API var. 12).

The 30-day rate in the BCRA series is a system average for all amounts. Retail online rates offered by each bank for ARS 100,000 are shown on the BCRA's Comparador de tasas, but the downloaded page contains no figures (the table loads by script) (unconfirmed).

Savings options for a household

• Peso savings account (caja de ahorro). Usually little or no interest (unconfirmed). Interest, if any, is ITL exempt for resident individuals (art. 26 h)).
• Peso term deposit (plazo fijo). Fixed nominal rate, typically 30 days or more; covered by deposit insurance up to ARS 50,000,000 per person; interest exempt for resident individuals.
• UVA term deposit. Adjusted by the UVA (which follows the CER) plus a small rate. The minimum term and pre-cancellation rules are in BCRA rules not downloaded for this page (unconfirmed). Covered by deposit insurance including the UVA adjustment (t-seggar 5.3.1).
• Dollar deposits. Protect against peso depreciation but not against dollar inflation inside Argentina (prices in pesos can rise faster than the exchange rate). Dollar term deposits are now included in the ITL art. 26 h) exemption from 2026 (Law 27.802 art. 191).
• Other instruments (money market funds, government bonds, CEDEARs) fall outside this page. See the MEP and CCL page and the capital markets pages.

Rents

What is official and what is not

There is no official series of market rent levels in the source files. Two official series exist and both measure changes, not levels:

1. INDEC CPI, item "rent of the dwelling" (Table 5): GBA +1.9% in September 2026, +28.8% since December 2025, +40.4% year on year. Regionally, rent rose 53.8% in Pampeana, 59.8% in the Northeast, 56.6% in the Northwest, 49.5% in Cuyo and 63.7% in Patagonia over the year (Cuadro 23). The CPI samples "selected tenant households" (methodological note), so it captures rents being paid on existing and new contracts.
2. BCRA ICL (Rental Contracts Index), base 30 June 2020 = 1. Created for Law 27.551 and still published daily. Method (Com. "A" 7096): geometric average of the change in national CPI and in the average taxable wage of stable workers (RIPTE). Values from the BCRA file: 7.34 on 29 December 2023, 27.75 on 1 October 2025, 28.24 on 27 October 2025, 36.52 on 30 September 2026, 36.54 on 1 October 2026, 37.11 on 27 October 2026 and 37.21 on 1 November 2026 (the BCRA file already shows values into mid November). Over the year to 27 October 2026 the ICL rose 31.4%; since the end of 2023 it has multiplied 5.06 times.

The City of Buenos Aires statistics office (estadisticaciudad.gob.ar) publishes its own CPI and rent reports, but its pages returned empty during source collection, so no CABA figure is used here (unconfirmed).

The end of Law 27.551 indexation

Law 27.551 (BO 30 June 2020) imposed a three year minimum term and annual adjustment by the ICL; Law 27.737 (BO 17 October 2023) changed the formula to adjustments at least every six months. DNU 70/2023 repealed Law 27.551 in full (art. 249) and replaced CCyC art. 1199: rent can be in pesos or foreign currency, any public or private index may be used, and Law 23.928 art. 10 does not apply to leases. Contracts signed while Law 27.551 was in force raise a transition question, covered on the leases page. For new contracts, the ICL is just one option. In practice parties use the CPI, the ICL or a dollar price (unconfirmed).

Hypothetical rent levels used on this page

How an ICL clause would have moved a rent. A hypothetical lease signed on 1 October 2025 at ARS 1,000,000 with annual ICL adjustment would rise on 1 October 2026 to 1,000,000 × 36.54 / 27.75 = ARS 1,316,756.76 (US$ 841.97), an increase of 31.7%. With CPI adjustment the increase would have been close to the 33.4% year on year CPI (unconfirmed).

Utilities, health, transport and schools

Utilities (electricity, gas, water)

Only official price changes are in the files: electricity, gas and other fuels rose 3.4% in September and 55.8% year on year in GBA. INDEC's footnotes attribute September gas increases to Res. 720/2026 (Metrogas) through Res. 728/2026 (Camuzzi Sur), and electricity increases to Decree 943/2025, Energy Secretariat Res. 109/2026, 187/2026 and 190/2026, and ENRE Res. 534/2026 (Edenor) and 535/2026 (Edesur), among provincial resolutions. The issuing authority of the gas resolutions is not stated in the footnote (unconfirmed). No tariff table (fixed charge, price per kWh or m3, subsidy categories) was downloaded, so the budget lines for utilities are hypothetical (unconfirmed). National agencies have been reorganised; check the current name of the energy regulator before citing it.

Private health (prepagas)

Prepaga prices are set freely by each company and plan since DNU 70/2023, with the only statutory limit being the three times ratio between the first and the last age band (Law 26.682 art. 17 as replaced). SSSalud publishes reported tariffs through a tool on a domain that was not used for this guide, so no official plan price is used here. Prepaga fees rose 2.3% in September 2026, 25.9% year to date and 34.2% year on year in GBA (INDEC Cuadros 21 to 23). The hypothetical amounts below (ARS 450,000 a month per adult; ARS 1,200,000 for a family of four) are the same as those used on the healthcare page for consistency (unconfirmed). Employees can direct their mandatory health contributions to a prepaga registered as an agente del seguro, which reduces the out of pocket cost (see that page). VAT on prepagas is 10.5% under VAT Law art. 28 i) (unconfirmed).

Transport

Public transport rose 2.6% in September and 53.2% year on year in GBA; vehicle fuel rose 0.8% in the month and 46.2% year on year (Cuadros 21 and 23). No fare resolution was downloaded, so the transport lines are hypothetical (unconfirmed).

Schools

Education rose 2.9% in September and 41.1% year on year in GBA. Private school fees are not in the files. Private schools under Decree 2417/1993 set fees under rules discussed on the schools page, and any 2024 to 2026 changes to fee controls were not found as text (unconfirmed). Bilingual and international schools may price in pesos with indexation or partly in dollars (unconfirmed). The budget model uses a hypothetical ARS 700,000 per child per month (US$ 447.60).

Dollar versus peso pricing

• Legal position. Since DNU 70/2023, a debt in foreign currency is paid only in that currency and judges may not change the currency (CCyC art. 765 as replaced), and rents may be agreed in dollars (CCyC art. 1199). Landlords, some schools and some service providers therefore quote in US$, while food, utilities, transport, prepagas and most services are priced in pesos.
• Which rate applies. A dollar price paid in pesos needs a rate. Contracts may name the BCRA wholesale rate (Com. A 3500, ARS 1,540.4751 on 26 October 2026), the BCRA retail average (Com. B 9791, ARS 1,560.40) or a market rate such as the MEP. This page uses the MEP rate given by some secondary summaries, ARS 1,563.90 on 23 October 2026 (unconfirmed). On these figures the gap between the MEP and the official retail rate is small (0.2%), but it has been much larger in the past; see the MEP and CCL page and the FX regime history.
• Why the dollar cost of living changes. If peso prices rise faster than the exchange rate, Argentina becomes more expensive in dollars, even with stable peso inflation. Between September 2025 and September 2026 the CPI rose 33.4%; whether the dollar cost rose or fell depends on the exchange rate over the same period, which is not in the files for September 2025 (unconfirmed). An expat paid in dollars should budget for peso price increases that may not be offset by a weaker peso.
• Cards and cash. Paying with a foreign card converts at a rate set by the card network and the local rules on tourist payments, which are not in the files (unconfirmed).

Household budget model, September 2026 prices (CABA)

Assumptions. Single person: man aged 40 (1.00 AE). Couple: man 40 and woman 38 (1.00 + 0.77 = 1.77 AE). Family of four: INDEC Household 2 (man 35, woman 31, son 6, daughter 8; 3.09 AE). Unfurnished long term rental in a central CABA neighbourhood, private health cover, no car. "Food at home" is set at twice the official CBA, a hypothetical uplift for an expat diet and supermarket mix. Every row marked hypothetical is an editorial assumption (unconfirmed).

Table 9. Monthly budget by household type (ARS; US$ at ARS 1,563.90)

The CBA and CBT rows are reference lines, not part of the total. Income tax, social security, car costs, domestic help, travel and childcare are excluded. A household outside CABA, or one willing to live further from the centre, would pay less rent (unconfirmed).

How to update the model each month. Replace the CBA rows with INDEC's new value (released around mid month with the CPI). Move hypothetical rows by their CPI item: rent by the contract clause, prepaga by the GBA prepaga item or the company notice, utilities by the electricity and gas item, schooling by the education division, the rest by core CPI.

Gaps stated openly

• CABA statistics institute (estadisticaciudad.gob.ar): pages returned empty or blocked; no IPCBA, CABA baskets or CABA rent data used.
• No official rent level series: all rent amounts are hypothetical.
• Utility tariffs (ENRE, ENARGAS, AySA): not downloaded; only the resolution numbers cited by INDEC.
• Prepaga prices: SSSalud tariff tool not on a permitted domain; amounts are hypothetical.
• Transport fares and school fees: not in the files.
• Retail plazo fijo rates by bank: the BCRA comparator page loads figures by script; only the system average is used.
• INDEC regional baskets and the semester poverty report: not in the files.
• EPH spreadsheets (household and occupation income tables) were downloaded but not parsed; the figures come from the PDF report.

Step by step

1. Download the official basket each month. Who: you or your adviser. Where: INDEC, Canasta básica alimentaria y canasta básica total report and the series file serie_cba_cbt.xls on indec.gob.ar. Documents: none. Time: minutes. Cost: free. Online only. INDEC publishes the basket on the same day as the CPI (13 October 2026 for September).
2. Compute your household's adult equivalents. Use Table 3 for each member's age and sex and multiply by the per AE CBA and CBT. Keep the same composition from month to month so changes reflect prices.
3. Track inflation by the items you actually buy. Where: INDEC CPI report, Cuadros 21 to 23 (rent, electricity and gas, prepagas, public transport, education). Free, online.
4. Check deposit and indexation rates. Where: BCRA statistics (principal variables page and API at api.bcra.gob.ar), and the BCRA Comparador de tasas for bank by bank retail rates. Free, online.
5. Price your rent. Who: you, a licensed real estate broker, or the landlord. Documents for a lease: identity document (DNI or passport), proof of income, guarantee (property guarantee, surety insurance or other agreed guarantee), CUIT/CUIL if the landlord registers the lease in ARCA's RELI. Time: one to four weeks (unconfirmed). Cost: deposit and advance as agreed (CCyC art. 1196), broker fee (unconfirmed), guarantee premium (unconfirmed); no CABA stamp tax on housing leases (CF art. 365(6)). In person viewing, signature often in person or with electronic signature (unconfirmed). See the leases page.
6. Get health cover quotes. Who: you or your employer's HR. Where: prepagas directly; complaints and switching rules at SSSalud (argentina.gob.ar/sssalud). Documents: identity document, CUIL or CUIT, health declaration. Time: days to weeks; waiting periods for pre-existing conditions (unconfirmed). Cost: plan price (free pricing). Online or in person.
7. Open utilities in your name or confirm they stay in the owner's name. Who: tenant or landlord. Where: distribution companies (Edenor or Edesur for electricity in AMBA, Metrogas or Naturgy BAN for gas, AySA for water in CABA) (unconfirmed). Cost: tariffs per regulator resolutions.
8. Set the budget currency. Decide which costs are in dollars (often rent) and which in pesos, and the exchange rate each contract uses (CCyC arts. 765 and 1199).
9. Review quarterly against income. Compare your budget with the CBT and with your net income, and update hypothetical rows with real bills.

Worked examples

Example 1. CBT for a family of four with older children (two adults, two children), September 2026

Facts: a man aged 40, a woman aged 38, a boy aged 10 and a girl aged 14, living in GBA.

Step 1. Adult equivalents (INDEC Cuadro 4). Man 30 to 45 years: 1.00. Woman 30 to 45 years: 0.77. Boy 10 years: 0.79. Girl 14 years: 0.76. Total: 1.00 + 0.77 + 0.79 + 0.76 = 3.32 adult equivalents.

Step 2. Food basket (CBA). 3.32 × ARS 239,058.22 = ARS 793,673.29 (US$ 507.50). This is the household's extreme poverty line.

Step 3. Total basket (CBT). 3.32 × ARS 528,318.67 = ARS 1,754,017.98 (US$ 1,121.57). This is the household's poverty line.

Step 4. Cross check with INDEC Household 2. INDEC's family of four with younger children (3.09 AE) has a CBT of ARS 1,632,504.69. Our family needs ARS 121,513.29 more a month because a boy of 10 (0.79) and a girl of 14 (0.76) count for more than a boy of 6 (0.64) and a girl of 8 (0.68). Teenage boys weigh heavily: at 16 a boy counts 1.03, more than his father.

Step 5. Compare with income. The median total family income in the second quarter of 2026 was about ARS 1,580,000 (upper limit of decile 5). Even allowing for price growth since then, a household at the median with this composition would sit below the September poverty line (1,580,000 < 1,754,017.98), although incomes have also risen since the second quarter (unconfirmed).

Step 6. Twelve months ago. In September 2025 the CBT per AE was ARS 380,858.27, so the same family needed 3.32 × 380,858.27 = ARS 1,264,449.46. The increase to ARS 1,754,017.98 is 38.7%, the CBT's year on year change.

Example 2. An expat couple on US$ 4,000 net a month

Facts: a couple (man 40, woman 38; 1.77 AE) moving to CABA, paid US$ 4,000 net a month, converted at MEP ARS 1,563.90 = ARS 6,255,600. Rent ARS 1,200,000 a month (hypothetical, from some secondary summaries).

Step 1. Core costs.

Step 2. Share of income. 3,426,266.10 / 6,255,600 = 54.8% of net income goes to core costs.

Step 3. Full lifestyle budget. Adding eating out and leisure (ARS 400,000) and other spending (ARS 200,000) gives ARS 4,026,266.10 (US$ 2,574.50), or 64.4% of income. The remainder is ARS 2,229,333.90 (US$ 1,425.50) for savings, travel and taxes not already deducted.

Step 4. Compare with official lines. The couple's CBT is 1.77 × 528,318.67 = ARS 935,124.05. Their income equals 6.69 CBTs; their full budget equals 4.31 CBTs.

Step 5. Inflation stress test (scenario, not a forecast). If peso prices rise by the REM median expectation of 21.1% over the next twelve months and the MEP rate does not move, the same budget would cost 4,026,266.10 × 1.211 = ARS 4,875,808.25, or 77.9% of an unchanged ARS 6,255,600 income. If the peso depreciates by the same 21.1%, the share stays at 64.4%. Dollar earners carry the risk that peso prices outrun the exchange rate.

Step 6. The income test for a rentista visa. The DNM requires passive income of at least five minimum wages for a rentista temporary residence (DNM rentista page). From October 2026 that is 5 × 391,200 = ARS 1,956,000 (US$ 1,250.72) a month, well below this couple's budget. Meeting the visa threshold does not mean the income is enough to live as in this model.

Example 3. ARS 10,000,000 in a peso term deposit for 12 months versus inflation

Part A. Looking back (official rates). A saver places ARS 10,000,000 (US$ 6,394.27) on 27 October 2025 in a 30-day term deposit at the BCRA system average rate (API var. 12) and renews capital and interest every 30 days at the rate of the renewal date (or the last prior business day).

Each step multiplies by 1 + TNA × 30/365. After 360 days (to 22 October 2026) the deposit is worth ARS 12,902,663.86, a nominal gain of 29.0%. Over the same dates the UVA went from 1,625.42 to 2,165.66 (+33.2%), so the same money in an instrument tracking the UVA would have been worth about ARS 13,323,700, and the CPI rose 33.4% in the twelve months to September 2026. Real result: about −3.2% against the UVA (12,902,663.86 / 13,323,700 − 1). The saver kept the nominal amount but lost purchasing power. Interest is ITL exempt for a resident individual (art. 26 h)); the deposit is within the ARS 50,000,000 insurance cap. Actual retail rates offered by a given bank may be lower than the system average (unconfirmed).

Part B. Looking forward (scenario). If the 30-day rate stayed at 22.22% for twelve renewals, ARS 10,000,000 would grow to 10,000,000 × (1 + 0.2222 × 30/365)^12 = ARS 12,425,664.71 (US$ 7,945.31 at today's MEP). If inflation equals the REM median of 21.1%, prices rise to the equivalent of ARS 12,110,000 and the saver gains 2.6% in real terms. If inflation repeats the last twelve months (33.4%), the equivalent is ARS 13,340,000 and the saver loses 6.9% in real terms. Rates will not stay constant; this is an illustration, not a projection.

Practical traps

1. Using the CBT as an expat budget. The CBT is a poverty line built on a 1990s low income consumption pattern. An expat lifestyle costs four to five times more in our model.
2. Comparing per capita income with a per adult basket. Children count for less than one adult equivalent. Compare household income with household CBT.
3. Mixing periods. EPH income is quarterly and published months later; baskets are monthly. Use the quarter's average basket for income comparisons.
4. Assuming the headline CPI is your inflation. Rent, utilities, prepagas, schools and public transport rose 34% to 56% year on year in GBA, above the 33.5% headline.
5. Ignoring regional gaps. Housing and utilities rose 76.9% year on year in the Northeast. Budgets for Córdoba, Mendoza or Patagonia should use regional CPI.
6. Relying on a lease index without checking the clause. Since DNU 70/2023 any index is valid, adjustments may be monthly or quarterly, and rent may be in dollars. The ICL is no longer mandatory.
7. Leaving more than ARS 50,000,000 in one bank. The deposit guarantee is per person across all accounts in the entity (t-seggar 5.3.3). Joint accounts share one cap.
8. Treating a nominal rate as a real return. A 22.22% nominal rate is negative in real terms if inflation exceeds about 24.6% (the effective annual rate).
9. Dollar pricing without an exchange rate clause. If a contract is in dollars but payment in pesos is allowed, state which rate and date apply. Under CCyC art. 765 the debtor is released only by paying the agreed currency.
10. Budgeting prepaga at today's price. Prepaga prices are free and change monthly; age band jumps can be up to the three times ratio between the first and last bands.
11. Assuming utilities stay subsidised. Electricity and gas rose 55.8% year on year in GBA. Check the household's subsidy status with the distributor (unconfirmed).
12. Using CABA statistics that are not in the files. The City's own CPI (IPCBA) may differ from INDEC GBA; check before quoting it.

Recent changes

Pending changes

• INDEC October 2026 CPI and baskets. Next release in mid November 2026 (unconfirmed).
• INDEC third quarter 2026 EPH income report. Expected around the end of 2026 (unconfirmed). Update Table 7 when published.
• Semester poverty report. INDEC's second half 2026 poverty and extreme poverty rates are not in the files (unconfirmed).
• Further minimum wage steps to April 2027 under Res. 4/2026, and later resolutions.
• Status of DNU 70/2023 before Congress. No primary source in the files records a vote by both chambers rejecting the DNU under Law 26.122; the lease and prepaga rules on this page assume it stays in force (unconfirmed).
• Utility tariff schedules and the subsidy regime for residential users change frequently (unconfirmed).
• CABA statistics. The City's IPCBA and rent reports should be added when its site is reachable.

FAQ

1. What is the "canasta básica total" and why does everyone quote it? It is INDEC's poverty line: the monthly cost of a basic food basket expanded by the Engel coefficient to include non food goods and services. In September 2026 it was ARS 528,318.67 (US$ 337.82) per adult equivalent in Greater Buenos Aires and ARS 1,632,504.69 (US$ 1,043.87) for INDEC's reference family of four. It is quoted because it is the only official monthly measure of the cost of a minimum standard of living.

2. How do I calculate the basket for my own family? Add up each member's adult equivalent units from INDEC's table (for example, a woman aged 30 to 45 counts 0.77, a boy of 10 counts 0.79) and multiply the total by the per adult value. Example 1 shows a family with 3.32 units needing ARS 1,754,017.98 (US$ 1,121.57).

3. How much does an expat need to live in Buenos Aires? There is no official figure. Our hypothetical CABA model gives about ARS 2.40 million (US$ 1,533) a month for a single person, ARS 4.03 million (US$ 2,575) for a couple and ARS 7.33 million (US$ 4,685) for a family with two children in private school, before taxes. Rent, health cover and schools drive the totals; replace our assumptions with real quotes (unconfirmed).

4. What was inflation in September 2026? National CPI rose 1.9% in the month, 23.6% since December 2025 and 33.4% year on year. In GBA the month was 2.0% and the year 33.5%. Core inflation was 1.7%.

5. Is there an official rent index or rent price? There is no official series of rent levels. INDEC measures the change in rents in the CPI (GBA +40.4% year on year) and the BCRA publishes the ICL (37.11 on 27 October 2026, +31.4% in twelve months), which was mandatory under Law 27.551 and is now optional after DNU 70/2023.

6. Can my landlord charge rent in US dollars? Yes. CCyC art. 1199, as replaced by DNU 70/2023 art. 257, allows rents in pesos or foreign currency at the parties' choice, and the tenant cannot demand to pay in another currency. CCyC art. 765 releases the debtor only when the agreed currency is delivered.

7. Does a peso term deposit protect my savings against inflation? Not reliably. Rolling 30-day deposits at the system average rate from October 2025 earned 29.0% in twelve months, against 33.2% for the UVA and 33.4% CPI inflation. At today's 22.22% nominal rate the real return is positive only if inflation is below about 24.6%. UVA deposits track the inflation index but have their own term rules (unconfirmed).

8. Are my bank deposits insured? Yes, up to ARS 50,000,000 (US$ 31,971.35) per person across all accounts and deposits in one financial entity, including interest and UVA adjustment (BCRA deposit guarantee text, points 5.3.1 to 5.3.3).

9. Do I pay income tax on plazo fijo interest? Resident individuals are exempt under ITL art. 26 h). From fiscal year 2026 the exemption covers term deposits in any currency (Law 27.802 art. 191). Non residents should check their own position (unconfirmed).

10. How does a local salary compare with the basket? In the second quarter of 2026 the median income from a main job was ARS 900,000, about 1.85 times the average CBT per adult equivalent of that quarter. The minimum wage of ARS 391,200 from October 2026 covers 0.74 of one adult's CBT. The median household income (about ARS 1,580,000) was only 5% above the CBT of INDEC's reference family of four in the same quarter.

11. Why does my own cost of living seem to rise faster than the CPI? Because the CPI weights date from 2004/05 and an expat household spends more on rent, utilities, private health and schools, which rose between 34% and 56% year on year in GBA, versus a 33.5% headline.

12. Are prices the same across Argentina? No, and INDEC warns that its regional average price tables are not comparable across regions. Regional inflation also differs: year on year to September 2026 it ranged from 30.3% in Patagonia to 36.9% in the Northeast.

13. Which exchange rate should I use to convert my salary? This guide uses the MEP rate from some secondary summaries (ARS 1,563.90 on 23 October 2026) (unconfirmed). Contracts may refer to the BCRA wholesale (A 3500) or retail (B 9791) rate. On 26 October 2026 these were ARS 1,540.4751 and ARS 1,560.40.

Primary sources

• CBA and CBT, Greater Buenos Aires, September 2026 (Informes técnicos Vol. 10 No. 251, 13 Oct 2026)
• CBA/CBT series since April 2016
• INDEC Methodology No. 22, measurement of poverty and extreme poverty
• CPI, September 2026 (Informes técnicos Vol. 10 No. 250, 13 Oct 2026)
• CPI methodology No. 32
• EPH, *Evolución de la distribución del ingreso*, 2Q 2026 (Informes técnicos Vol. 10 No. 243, 1 Oct 2026)
• EPH income tables 2Q 2026
• EPH, *Mercado de trabajo. Tasas e indicadores socioeconómicos*, 2Q 2026 (17 Sep 2026)
• Statistics API, variable list and series 4, 5, 7, 12, 13, 14, 27, 28, 29, 31, 35, 40, 44, 45 (retrieved 27 Oct 2026)
• Principal variables page
• Term deposit rate comparator
• ICL daily file
• Communication "A" 7096 (ICL method)
• Deposit guarantee ordered text
• DNU 70/2023
• Civil and Commercial Code, updated text
• Income Tax Law (T.O. 2019), updated text
• CNEPYSMVYM Res. 4/2026 (minimum wage)
• Law 25.871 (Migration), updated text
• Law 26.682 (Prepaid medicine), updated text
• Decree 102/2025
• Law 26.206 (National Education)
• DNM Disp. 1732/2023 (rentista)
• SSSalud, plan values
• DNM, rentista temporary residence
• CABA Tax Code T.O. 2026 (Decree 172/2026)

Related pages

• Driving in Argentina: foreign licences, licence exchange, buying, registering, insuring and importing a car
• Healthcare in Argentina for expats and employers: obras sociales, prepagas, PMO and switching rules
• Moving to Argentina: importing household goods, a car and pets (customs franchises, ARCA procedures and SENASA rules)
• Schools and education in Argentina for expat families: public and private schools, enrolment, fees and recognising foreign studies
• How much does private health insurance (prepaga) cost in Argentina?