As a country located in South America according to INTERNETSAILORS.COM, the Argentine economy is benefited by a great wealth and variety of natural resources, a population with a good degree of education, an agricultural system and an important industrial base, which suffered a significant setback from the implementation of neoliberal policies. last 25 years of the 20th century.
The international economic crisis, which began in the United States in 2008, had a strong impact on the Argentine economy, since according to official data in the second and third quarters of 2009 the economy contracted, and then grew again in the last quarter. In 2009 the economy barely grew 0.9% according to INDEC. [51] In terms of employment, in the fourth quarter of 2009 there was an unemployment rate of 8.4%.
According to the latest official data from the Central Bank of the Argentine Republic and the INDEC, in 2008 the gross domestic product in nominal value was 1,032,758 million pesos at current prices equivalent to 326,867 million dollars, with a nominal GDP per capita of 8,224 Dollars. The economy in 2008 grew by 6.8%. [51]
Record exports in 2008 totaled 70,589 million dollars and imports reached 57,413 million dollars. The increase in exports was 27% and that of imports 28% compared to 2007 figures. The net balance of the trade balance was 13,176 million dollars, an increase of 19% compared to the previous year. As a whole, the increase in the value of exports was exclusively the result of a 26% rise in prices, since the quantities remained unchanged. Meanwhile, the higher imported value was explained by an 11% increase in prices, while quantities grew. the Mercosur continues to be the main trading partner, where 23% of shipments were sent and from where 16% of imports were purchased. Exports and imports of services in 2007, show a total of 10,283 and 10,782 million dollars respectively, which generated for the same year a deficit of 499 million dollars.
The Basic Food Basket, which is calculated based on the CPI (published by the INDEC), serves to establish the poverty and indigence indices, which in the second semester of 2009 were 13.2% and 3.5% respectively., [52] . Social indicators have been reduced substantially since 2002 with poverty values close to 60% and unemployment of 21.5% at the critical moment of the crisis.
Agricultural and livestock sector
Silos bag collecting soybeans after harvest, in the province of Buenos Aires. The soy chain is one of the three most important in the country, along with petrochemicals and metalworking.
The production of food from agriculture and cattle ranching in the Pampas region is traditionally one of the axes of the Argentine economy. In total, rural production, including the forestry sector, represented 5.61% of total GDP in 2007. The main product of the sector is soybeans or soybeans, an oilseed that occupies half of the sown lands and that originates the soybean chain, one of the main productive chains in the country.
The main agricultural products of the country are:
- Grains, which are divided into two large sectors:
- Oilseeds: mainly soybeans and to a lesser extent sunflower.
- Cereals: mainly corn and wheat.
- Beef cattle: mainly of the Aberdeen angus, Hereford and Shorton breeds, for the production of beef, a basic component of the diet of the Argentine population;
- The Dutch-Argentine cattle: for the production of milk.
A substantial part of agricultural production is exported without manufacturing in the form of grains (soybeans, corn, wheat and sunflower), representing 15% of total exports. The rest is used as raw material, mainly for the food industry. Soy is substantially different from other agricultural products due to the fact that it is not consumed in the domestic market, and therefore practically all of it is exported. On the contrary, cereals, dairy products and beef constitute the basis of the population’s diet, which is why a considerable part is destined for consumption in the domestic market.
Outside of the agro-livestock economy of the Pampas region, the Argentine economy has the so-called regional economies, local productive systems generally supported by the specialized production of a limited group of crops. Among them are the Cuyo economy supported by the vine and the derived wine industry; the Patagonian valleys dedicated to apples and pears ; the northwest region, dedicated to sugar, citrus and tobacco ; the province of Misiones and northeast of Corrientes oriented to mate grass, tea and wood ; the cotton in the Chaco region; the rice, mainly flows; the olive tree in arid mountain areas ; and sheep in Patagonia.
Oil, mining, forests and fishing
Monument to the oil worker, in Caleta Olivia, Santa Cruz province. The petrochemical chain is one of the three most important in the country, along with soy and metal mechanics.
Argentina has considerable oil and gas wealth, which allows it to organize a petrochemical production chain that, together with the soy chain and the metal-mechanical industry, constitutes the base of the national economy. As a whole, the petrochemical chain is responsible for 20% of total exports, of which only 4.6% is exported raw, without industrialization. The main deposits are in the province of Neuquén, the Gulf of San Jorge and the province of Salta ; Neuquén province concentrates about half of all hydrocarbon production.
