Argentina Manufacturing Posts Third Straight Monthly Decline

Argentina’s manufacturing output fell 1.8% year-on-year in September 2026, easing from a 3.2% decline in August but marking the third consecutive month of contraction. Ten of the 16 surveyed divisions declined. The largest drags were machinery and equipment (-26.8%), other equipment, apparatus and instruments (-22%), and wearing apparel, leather and footwear (-5.3%). These were followed by motor vehicles, bodies, trailers and auto parts (-3.5%); furniture and mattresses and other manufacturing industries (-4.9%); fabricated metal products (-4.0%); and basic metals (-1.1%). Output also fell in petroleum refining, coke and nuclear fuel (-0.8%), food and beverages (-0.1%), and tobacco products (-6.5%). Cumulative January–September output was down 2.6% from the same period in 2025.

Argentina’s manufacturing output fell 3.2% year over year in August 2026, extending a 4.9% decline in July. Eleven of 16 manufacturing divisions posted declines. The steepest falls were recorded in machinery and equipment (-24.0%), other equipment, appliances and instruments (-20.6%), apparel, leather and footwear (-14.7%), tobacco products (-14.3%), motor vehicles, bodies, trailers and auto parts (-8.8%), textile products (-9.4%), metal products (-9.6%), rubber and plastic products (-7.0%), non-metallic mineral products (-6.8%), furniture and mattresses and other manufacturing industries (-5.1%), and food and beverages (-0.2%). Positive contributions came from other transport equipment (12.1%), petroleum refining, coke and nuclear fuel (4.7%), chemicals and chemical products (4.0%), basic metals (3.3%), and wood, paper, publishing and printing (2.3%). The index rose 1.9% month over month.

Argentina’s manufacturing output fell 4.9% year-on-year in July 2026, extending a 2.6% decline in the first seven months of the year. Twelve of the 16 manufacturing divisions posted annual declines. The steepest falls came from other equipment, appliances and instruments (-31.4%), machinery and equipment (-26.7%), clothing, leather and footwear (-15.9%), textiles (-13.0%), non-metallic mineral products (-12.6%), tobacco products (-12.3%), rubber and plastic products (-9.1%), furniture and other manufacturing (-9.1%), metal products (-8.4%), motor vehicles and auto parts (-5.4%), chemicals (-1.3%), and food and beverages (-0.5%). Meanwhile, output increased in petroleum refining (8.1%), wood, paper and printing (7.1%), other transport equipment (2.6%), and basic metals (1.6%). On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, manufacturing output fell 5.0% in July, while the trend-cycle index declined 0.9%.