Argentina’s poverty rate reached 40.1 per cent in the first half of 2023, as the South American economy descended into its worst crisis in two decades.

The figure, released by Buenos Aires on Wednesday, comes four weeks ahead of Argentina’s high-stakes presidential election.

The poverty crisis is at its worst since the height of the pandemic, with 1.3mn Argentines having fallen into poverty — meaning they earn less than the monthly cost of a basket of basic necessities — since the first half of 2022, when the rate was 36.5 per cent.

The rate of extreme poverty, below which Argentines cannot afford basic foods, hit 9.3 per cent, up from 8.8 per cent a year earlier.