While much of the real economy still shows no signs of recovery, foreign purchases are experiencing record expansion. Thus, driven by trade openness, exchange rate appreciation, and economic deregulation, operations through the courier system more than doubled so far this year.
The contrast does not go unnoticed: at the same time that companies linked to international logistics, package transport, and global shopping platforms grow at an accelerated pace, mass consumption accumulates a sustained downward trend, with thousands of stores closing their shutters, and local industry continues operating below its historical levels.
The combination of trade openness, import liberalization, and exchange rate appreciation has driven a less visible but increasingly widespread phenomenon: the growth of businesses linked to international consumption. Courier, logistics, and foreign shopping platform companies began to expand in the heat of an economy that promotes importing more than producing or buying locally. The Government’s economic model stimulates «global consumers» but weakens local producers, domestic firms, and Argentine employment.
In this scenario, the boom in foreign purchases continues to accelerate. Imports made through the courier regime, used to receive products purchased on international platforms, again reached record levels in May and consolidate a trend that grows amid the cheap dollar and the relaxation of trade controls.
Although it is a channel of reduced weight within foreign trade, its expansion reflects one of the most visible effects of the openness promoted by the national government. The expansion of import limits, together with the deregulation of operations and the relative cheapening of foreign products, triggered the use of this mechanism to acquire goods from abroad. In this context, it should be recalled that resolution 5608/2024 raised the limit per shipment under the courier regime from USD 1,000 to USD 3,000, a measure that significantly expanded the possibilities of purchasing abroad.
Specifically, imports in May stood at USD 115 million (+84.4% year-on-year), a record for a May in constant dollars and just below the record of USD 118 million reached the previous month. Thus, so far in 2026 they accumulate USD 518 million, an increase of 113.2% compared to the previous year. «Although its weight in the aggregate of imports remains small, in the 8-digit analysis of the Mercosur nomenclature they consolidate as one of the three most relevant categories, with import levels in May similar to those of low-displacement vehicles,» noted a report from the consultancy Analityca.
To this picture we must add another non-minor factor: the growth of global consumption also implies a greater outflow of foreign currency for imports and international purchases, in a context where the need to accumulate dollars and maintain external balance becomes more than evident.
At the same time, the flip side is more than evident: in an economy where consumption acts as an engine, the collapse of domestic demand first impacts counters and shutters. According to data released by the consultancy Scentia, mass consumption in all channels registered a year-on-year contraction of 1.6% in May. This retraction consolidates a worrying trend in the accumulated year, which already drags a drop of 3.0%. The decline was felt most strongly in chain supermarkets (-4.2% year-on-year), wholesalers (-1.6%), and independent self-service stores (-1.3%).
The consequences are not minor. In the last year, most of the companies that closed belong to this sector: 3,109 fewer firms, in a scenario where sales contract across the board. In fact, even in supermarkets, a key indicator of basic consumption, declines were recorded in all 24 jurisdictions of the country compared to 2023. The situation seems far from reversing this year. According to INDEC’s business trends survey, more than 70% of companies expect equal or fewer sales due to the drop in local demand.
In short, the phenomenon reflects one of the central tensions of the current economic model: while certain sectors linked to import, logistics, and international trade accelerate their pace of expansion, much of local production loses competitiveness against an increasingly open and dollarized economy. The stability of the current financial scheme also rests on a lower demand for imports due to the industrial decline. Much of the exchange rate improvement is explained by a sharp drop in industrial activity. Lower production reduced the need to import inputs and intermediate goods, decreasing the demand for dollars from the productive sector.
A document presented by the Economic Studies Management of Banco Provincia highlighted that lower industrial activity acts as a silent partner of the Central Bank’s dollar purchases. «The industrial sector was also an ally of the Central Bank since it went from demanding USD 4,000 million in the 2012-2023 average to half (USD -2,000 million) in 2026,» they explained. And in that scene, a directly related aspect has to do with the dual dynamics of imports: «while productive inputs (without energy) are 20% below 2023, final goods are almost 70% above.»
In short, while dollars destined to import finished goods grow, those used to produce retreat. Argentina of the adjustment has dynamic sectors, but they are increasingly decoupled from job creation, added value, and national production.
kheee?! para mi esto es una estafa mientras los laburantes se parten el lomo y no llegan a fin de mes los turros importan pavadas y rompen records la plata de los laburantes va a los bolsillos de los empresarios chorros que cierran negocios aca yo creo que hay q nacionalizar todo carajo firmado el pobre
che pero deja de llorar flaco si compramos afuera es xq aca te roban hasta las medias los zurdos de mierda con sus impuestazos matan el comercio local viva la libertad carajo franco 84% mas de importaciones y el consumo se cae los kukas nos arruinan