Think your grocery shop is pricey? Compare your bill to a country where prices have tripled

The cost of essential items has tripled for people in Argentina, where inflation is at its highest rate since the 1990s.

Argentina's record inflation has been pushed to its highest level in just over three decades. Source: AAP / Juan Ignacio Roncoroni

Key Points

• Argentina's annual inflation was at 211 per cent as of December 2023.
• Locals are struggling to afford essential items, with the price of some products jumping 600 per cent in 12 months.
• President Javier Milei says the situation will get worse before it gets better.

People in Argentina are grappling with soaring food costs as the country's inflation continues to skyrocket to its highest level in three decades.

Government data revealed the annual inflation rate surpassed 211 per cent in December, meaning Argentinians are now paying triple for essential items compared to 12 months earlier.

By comparison, the annual inflation rate in Australia sits at 4.3 per cent according to November data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, dropping to the lowest rate since January 2022.

So what does this rise in costs look like across everyday food items for Argentinians?

Cost of food at Argentina's supermarkets soars

While Australians may have noticed a gradual increase in the cost of grocery items as inflation climbed, people in Argentina see noticeable price rises each time they go to the shop.

The country's minimum monthly wage increased from 146,000 pesos ($268) to 156,000 pesos ($286), or 780 pesos an hour ($1.43) on 1 December, according to Argentina's employment ministry.

In Australia, the minimum full-time wage is $3,521.20 a month, or $23.23 an hour.

With two-fifths of Argentines considered to be living in poverty, many are cutting their spending.

Data released by the National Institute of Statistics and Census of Argentina (INDEC) shows the price of potatoes has jumped an average 231 per cent in 12 months across the five different local regions reported.

"Nothing is cheap," said Graciela Bravo, a 65-year-old retiree, who said she now carefully counted how many potatoes she bought.

"Before you would purchase by the kilo, now I get three potatoes or four potatoes so they don't spoil."

Meanwhile barbecue meat, including ribs, has quadrupled in price in Buenos Aires.

For Susana Barrio, 79, the out-of-control prices means she can no longer invite her friends over for asado (barbecue), a key part of Argentinian social life.

"We've had to eliminate things that made life a little brighter," she said.

"That joy it gave me to invite my friends for a barbecue, which is typical here, now that's impossible."

For someone on minimum wage in Argentina, 1kg of BBQ rib meat would set them back 5,195 pesos ($9.53), or more than 3 per cent of their monthly wage.

New president aims to tackle Argentina's inflation

Argentina's monthly inflation rate hit 25.5 per cent last month, after a sharp devaluation of the peso when President Javier Milei took office on 10 December with a promise to get inflation under control.

The inflation reading took Argentina past regional peer Venezuela, with the rate of price increases jumping to the highest level since the start of 1990s.

Milei, a political outsider who rode to power on the back of voter anger at the worsening economic situation, is looking to employ tough austerity measures to bring down inflation, reduce a deep fiscal deficit and rebuild government coffers.

However, he has warned it will take time and that things could get worse before they get better.

- with additional reporting by Reuters