Argentina poverty rate soars to nearly 53% in first half of 2024

FILE PHOTO: People wait in line to receive a charity food bag, outside the NGO Sal de la tierra, in Villa Fiorito, a working-class neighborhood on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina February 27, 2024. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's poverty rate rocketed to 52.9% in the first half of 2024, the government's INDEC statistics agency said on Thursday, surging from 40.1% a year earlier.

For the second half of last year, INDEC had reported a rate of 41.7%.

(Reporting by Hernan Nessi and Sarah Morland; Editing by Kylie Madry)