Supermarket sales are 10% below those in 2023 and 2022 in Mendoza.

A report by CEPA (Center for Political Economy of Argentina) shows that, despite a slight improvement in the first half of 2025, supermarket sales are still well below the levels recorded in 2022 and 2023, a direct reflection of the deterioration in workers' purchasing power .

The analysis was prepared using data from INDEC (National Institute of Statistics and Census) and the Observatory of Employment and Business Dynamics (OEDE).

Figures for the first half of 2025 show a 0.5% improvement in supermarket sales compared to the same period in 2024. However, this increase is insufficient to offset the decline seen in previous years.

Compared to the first half of 2023, sales are down 10.9% , representing a cumulative loss of $71.717 billion in revenue , adjusted for inflation.

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The contraction in consumption does not affect all products equally. While items such as grocery stores and meats are experiencing sharp declines (up to -22% and -14.2% respectively compared to 2023), others such as produce and fruit stores have grown steadily, with an increase of 25.2% compared to 2024. This suggests that consumers are opting for more economical alternatives for their purchases.

Interestingly, the report also highlights a strong rebound in sales of clothing, footwear, and electronics . In the case of clothing, the 15.2% year-over-year increase is explained by greater openness to imports , which has disciplined prices. Electronics, meanwhile, have seen a 21.6% rebound in the last year, although they have not yet recovered to previous levels.

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The main cause of the decline in consumption is the loss of purchasing power of wages . Between November 2023 and September 2024 , registered workers in Mendoza lost 6.5% of their purchasing power .

Despite a slight recovery in early 2025 , the report notes that revenues in March of that year were still 0.7% below their November 2023 level .

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The report highlights that the wage loss is much more significant if the inflation measurement methodology requested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is used. Using this calculation, Mendoza's wages registered a real drop of 7.6% over the same period , a figure strongly correlated with the 12% drop in supermarket sales .

In terms of economic loss, the report is stark: between November 2023 and March 2025, each registered worker in the province lost, on average, $1,493,340 in purchasing power using the most accurate inflation measure. This figure, extrapolated to the 268,890 registered workers, equates to a total income loss of $401,543 million for Mendoza households.

In conclusion, the consumer situation in Mendoza is a direct reflection of the loss of purchasing power. As long as the decline in wages is not reversed, sales in large stores will remain stagnant.