The July supermarket survey published by Indec confirms that Supermarket sales fell by 12.3% in the last twelve months. While in the cumulative January-July 2024 it shows a decreasing variation of 11.7% compared to the same period in 2023. Due to the increase in the cost of living and the deterioration of popular income, what is falling are the purchases of goods as basic as food.
#DatoINDEC
Supermarket sales fell 12.3% year-on-year in July 2024 and 0.1% compared to the previous month https://t.co/LOWboJJnYr pic.twitter.com/gcSKuFhlTF— INDEC Argentina (@INDECArgentina) September 25, 2024
The item groups with the most significant year-over-year increases within total sales were: “Bakery”, with 273.2%; “Fruit and vegetable shop”, with 267.5%; “Dairy products”, with 260.7%; and “Cleaning products and perfumes”, with 253.9%.
The Indec report states that the most commonly used payment method was credit card (43.4%), followed by debit cards (29.1%). Meanwhile, 18.3% of total sales were paid in cash and only the remaining 9.3% were paid using other payment methods.
In relation to employed personnel, Indec showed that in July 2024 “it reached 98,628 salaried employees, of which 10,940 hold hierarchical positions, representing 11.1% of the total number of employees. The remaining 88.9% is made up of cashiers, administrative staff and stockers, which total 87,688 employees.”
The average gross salaries in July 2024 were 2,345,868 pesos for “Managers, supervisors and other senior staff” and 894,838 pesos for “Cashiers, administrative staff, stockers and others”. While the salaries of senior positions achieved an increase above the interannual inflation of July, that of “Cashiers, administrative staff, stockers and others” was 190.9%, below the general price level.
The collapse of consumption was also confirmed in the wholesale sales not seen since 2019. “In July 2024, the Total Sales Index at Constant Prices shows a decrease of 17.1% compared to the same month in 2023. The cumulative January-July 2024 figure shows a drop of 13.3% compared to the same period in 2023. In July 2024, the seasonally adjusted series index shows a decrease of 1.0% compared to the previous month and the trend-cycle series index records a negative variation of 0.6% compared to the previous month.”
The most significant increases occurred in “Electronics and household items”, with 302.2%; “Bakery”, with 285.9%; “Meats”, with 259.5%; and “Others”, with 258.6%. In the shopping centers, the year-on-year drop in total sales at constant prices from December 2016 to July 2024 reached a total of 7,643.7 million pesos, which represents a drop of 9.0% compared to the same month of the previous year. The categories with the greatest increase, according to their year-on-year variation, were: “Perfumery and pharmacy”, with 236.1%; “Sports clothing and accessories”, with 224.2%; “Bookstore and stationery”, with 191.0%; and “Furniture, decoration and textiles for the home”, with 189.3%
The adjustment plan of Milei and Caputo implies maintaining the economic recession, deepening the social crisis. The sustained fall in consumption is the result of the deterioration of income and the constant increase in the cost of living. Due to the fall in activity, what increases are layoffs and poverty levels. This Thursday, the poverty data for the second half of the year will be known, which is expected to be around 50%. The Unicef report showed that in the country, more than a million girls and boys have to go without one of the four meals due to lack of money.
As was made clear in the draft budget with a “zero deficit” for 2025, the only priority of this government is to tighten its budget more and more to pay the odious debt with the IMF. To end this decadence and misery, this agreement must be overturned. Forces and demands must be united against the entire adjustment plan, against the veto on pensions, on the university budget and in defence of companies that want to be privatised, as in the case of Aerolíneas Argentinas.
Source: www.laizquierdadiario.com
