Argentina’s monthly inflation was 13.2% in February 2024, a seven-point drop from January, according to the National Institute for Statistics and Census (INDEC, by its Spanish acronym). This is the second month in a row that monthly inflation has decreased.

The INDEC’s report released on Tuesday showed that year-on-year inflation continued to rise, reaching 276.2%, while the total inflation for the first two months of the year reached 36.6%. 

Within the divisions of goods and services analyzed, the biggest monthly increase was 24.7% in the communications category, driven by the rise in telephone and internet services. It was followed by transport, up 21.6% mainly due to public transport fare hikes. Then came housing and utilities, up 20.2%.

Due to its weight on the index, the division with the highest influence on the rate was food and non-alcoholic beverages, which increased by 11.9%, mainly due to meat, bread, egg, and cereal prices.

The slowing of the national inflation rate mirrors that of Buenos Aires City, which fell from 21.7% in January to 14.1% in February at 14.1%, per a separate report published last week.

President Javier Milei’s press office published a communiqué on X attributing the decrease to the administration’s efforts to “impose strong fiscal discipline,” blaming the inflationary spike in recent months on monetary emission and the policies of former Economy Minister Sergio Massa.

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