Argentina: According to the most recent consumer price index released by the government, inflation in Argentina has exceeded 100 percent for the first time since 1991.

Argentina continues to experience one of its worst economic crises in decades, with annual inflation now standing at 102.5 percent, as per the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC) report for February 2023.

Food and drinks were the categories of products most impacted by inflation, which increased by 6.6 percent in February alone. The 9.8 percent increase in food prices was attributed by INDEC to the high cost of meat, dairy, and egg goods. The most recent increase in inflation comes as Argentina battles its worst drought in nearly 60 years as well as wildfires in places like the northern Corrientes region.

Together with the United States and Brazil, the nation is a major exporter of soybeans as well as other agricultural products like corn, wheat, and other grains. Yet, as a result of the Pampas, Argentina’s lush grasslands, experiencing crop failure, industry experts have drastically reduced the predicted agricultural production for the nation to levels not seen since the turn of the century. Since May 2022, the nation has been plagued by high temperatures that are thought to be caused by climate change.

Argentina has the second-largest economy in South America. But for much of the last century, its market has been notoriously volatile, with a debt crisis in the 1980s spurring chronic hyperinflation throughout that decade. With rates occasionally exceeding 3,000 percent, the inflation crisis reached a peak in 1989.

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