Consumption in freefall: down nearly 3% in June and Argentines can't even afford breakfast

Mass consumption delivered bad news again in June with a 2.7% year-on-year contraction across all commercial channels, accumulating a 2.9% drop in the first half of the year. The slowdown in everyday spending reflects continued pressure on wages and the loss of purchasing power in household budgets. According to data from consulting firm Scentia, the decline impacted unevenly across product categories and types of stores.

The trend of sales in stores and supermarkets continues to show clear signs of caution among families. In June, total sales volume fell 2.7% compared to the same month last year and dropped 2.4% month-on-month versus May. Thus, the cumulative evolution so far this year stands at -2.9%.

The overall picture shows how adjustments in household incomes and the persistent deterioration of wages constrain the purchase of essential items. Despite a slowdown in the pace of general price increases — with a monthly CPI of 1.9% in June and an annual cumulative of 16.8% — domestic consumption dynamics continue to suffer from the accumulated wear and tear of the economic crisis.

A detailed analysis by product category reveals how households are reorganizing their purchasing priorities amid budget constraints. Categories related to home maintenance and personal care recorded the steepest year-on-year declines in June:

• Breakfast and snack: recorded a sharp drop of -7.7% year-on-year (accumulating -5.3% for the year).
• Laundry and home cleaning: suffered a contraction of -6.2% year-on-year (and -7.1% cumulative for the year).
• Perishables: fell -5.7% year-on-year (with a cumulative decline of -5.6%).
• Impulse products: fell -5.3% year-on-year (accumulating -2.5%).
• Hygiene and cosmetics: recorded a decline of -3.7% year-on-year (and -2.9% cumulative).

In contrast, the Food category showed relative stability, with a moderate -0.5% year-on-year decline (-0.2% cumulative), acting as an unavoidable floor in the household basket. Meanwhile, Alcoholic beverages were the positive exception of the month with a 9.4% year-on-year increase, while Non-alcoholic beverages grew 3.5% compared to June 2025.

The sales contraction did not affect all retail formats equally. Except for the digital channel, the different sales modalities mostly recorded negative behaviors in the year-on-year comparison for June:

• Large supermarket chains saw their volumes fall 2.6% year-on-year, mainly driven by declines in perishables (-7.9%), non-alcoholic beverages (-5.9%), and hygiene and cosmetics (-5.9%).
• In the independent self-service channel, the overall decline was 1.6%, hit hardest by the collapse in perishables (-13.2%).
• The wholesale channel also recorded negative territory with a 3.3% year-on-year decline, highlighted by a sharp drop in non-alcoholic beverages (-21.0%) and impulse products (-10.2%).

The standout note of the period came again from e-commerce, which maintains a sustained expansion rate with a 41.0% year-on-year increase in June, driven mainly by strong increases in sales of alcoholic beverages (+61.8%) and basic foods (+54.6%).

Putting the volume level reached in June 2026 into historical perspective, the data reveals that demand stands at just 82.9% of the volume consumed in January 2023. Although the year-on-year decline has moderated compared to the sharp setbacks observed during the toughest moments of the previous year, indicators show that the general level of consumption remains stagnant at low levels.

Household behavior reflects constant adaptation to a persistent crisis, where the gap between fixed costs and the real purchasing power of wages limits the prospects for short-term recovery for retail trade.