Imports from Argentina fall 15.9% in March

Argentina’s imports totaled $ 3.175 million, a 19.7% year-on-year drop.

Meanwhile, Argentine exports totaled $ 4.32 billion, a drop of 15.9%, at the annual rate.

Among the products that Argentina imports the most are: corn, cars, soybeans, wheat, bovine meat, gold, crustaceans and wine.

On the contrary, cars, auto parts, petroleum oils, telephones, gas and medicines stand out in imports from Argentina.

Thus, the trade balance of that nation registered in March a positive balance of 1,145 million dollars, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC).

Imports from Argentina and economy

During 2019, the recession that had been affecting the Argentine economy since the third quarter of 2018 deepened. In 2019, GDP contracted 2.2%. In addition, the Central Bank’s gross international reserves decreased to $ 44.8 billion at the end of 2019 (a decrease of $ 20.9 billion compared to gross international reserves as of December 31, 2018).

Despite the sharp contraction in economic activity, inflation accelerated during 2019, reaching 53.8% year-on-year in December.

In addition, the unemployment rate stood at 10.6% and 9.7% in the second and third quarters of 2019, respectively, compared to 9.6% and 9.0% in the second and third quarters of 2018.

In 2019, real wages in the formal and informal sectors decreased by 6.5% and 15.8%, respectively. Likewise, in the first half of 2019, the levels of poverty and extreme poverty increased to 35.4% and 7.7% of the population, respectively.