INDEC will modify the measurement of poverty and is already moving forward with the new inflation index.

While INDEC is preparing a new index to measure inflation, the agency's head, Marco Lavagna, confirmed this Monday that they are also preparing modifications to the poverty measurement and provided some details about the new method for surveying prices.

"Statistics are constantly changing; some are more noticeable, like inflation or poverty, which hasn't yet occurred," the official said. He added, regarding the latter indicator: "Let's not assume that poverty will only occur now ; there will be changes; they will take time."

Lavagna offered these definitions during an interview with LN+ journalist Paulino Rodríguez, in which he stated that new realities must be incorporated "slowly and very carefully" so as not to generate distrust.

For more than 30 years, poverty has been measured in Argentina using the Permanent Household Survey (EPH), which reveals the income of individuals and households. Thus, those who, in the month in which they were interviewed by INDEC, do not have sufficient income to purchase a basic food basket, which is supposed to cover basic food and non-food needs, are classified as poor.

While INDEC publishes data on extreme poverty and poverty by semester, it also reports the EPH's "microdata" on a quarterly basis. The latest data, in March, showed that poverty reached 38.1% in the second half of 2024 , down from 41.7% in the same period in 2023, and that there were 18 million people living in this situation nationwide.

Regarding inflation , which stood at 3.7% in March, the head of the agency said they have not yet finalized the release of the new Consumer Price Index (CPI). But he anticipated that the baskets will be updated with "many improvements," although "users won't necessarily end up seeing them in the final figure."

Among the main changes, he mentioned that there will be a new composition, whereby services will have "a little more weight" than food, and more price controls will be applied. " Food prices will decrease slightly and services will increase slightly : health, housing, rates, utilities, internet, streaming, recreation, eating out," he explained.

Lavagna specified that goods will have a weighting from 47/46% to 45/44%, and food and beverages from 25% to 22/21% , and acknowledged that there were "delays."

"Changes are made every 5 to 10 years. The last time was in 2016, when there were no statistics. The index is created, the expenditure survey is taken and carried over to 2016, using a 2004 base, and this one will be based on the 2018 or 2019 consumption basket," he noted.

Finally, he explained that the regional baskets will remain in place, but their composition will be "more provincial." He specified that the staff who collects data to measure inflation is " approximately 200 people ," who report to the agency and, in other cases, to provincial directorates.

" There are 1,220 employees; when I arrived there were 1,500 people . We went through the census process, and when President Milei took over, we were already in a very orderly situation. We didn't have any real cutbacks. Yes, people left, and we haven't renewed as many people, but we haven't had to lay off any agents," he concluded.