BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – At 6 o’clock in the morning, in the Mataderos neighborhood of Buenos Airesworkers unload cuts of beef from a truck outside a butcher shop as customers line up for bulk purchases. Inside, 73-year-old owner Jorge García and his staff prepare meat orders before dawn.
Among the stacks of beef boxes and cuts of red meat hanging on metal hooks, chicken and pork are increasingly present.
Red meat consumption in Argentina – historically one of the world’s biggest consumers of beef – has fallen to its lowest level in two decades amid economic austerity measures imposed by the libertarian president Javier Milei.
As of April 2026, annual per capita beef consumption fell to 44.5 kilograms (98 pounds), from 49.5 kilograms (109 pounds) during the same month a year earlier, according to Argentina’s Agricultural Development Foundation. In 2006, it was 63.4 kilograms (139 pounds) per person.
“People are switching to cheaper proteins. They’re eating pork, they’re eating chicken,” García said.
Analysts attribute the drop to higher beef prices, lower cattle supply and weakened the purchasing power of families. The opening of Argentina’s beef market to international trade has pushed domestic prices closer to global levels.
“Beef went into a completely different category of purchasing power. Workers’ wages fell far behind,” said Juampi Quintero, 25, a meat distributor who estimated that consumption among his customers has fallen by more than half.
Less money for beef
Since coming to office in December 2023 with annual inflation at 211%, Milei promised to eliminate what he called “the cancer of inflation” through an adjustment plan that included cuts equivalent to nearly a third of public spending, symbolized by image of a chainsaw.
The government managed to reverse the fiscal deficit and achieve a budget surplus – a rare result in Argentina’s recent history – but the social cost of austerity measures has attracted criticism.
Within months, Mile’s administration eliminated 13 ministries, fired nearly 30,000 public employees, halted public works projects, and slashed funding for key areas such as education, health, and science, while also cutting subsidies for basic services such as electricity, gas, water, and transportation.
“This affects family income because families now have to pay more for services that were previously subsidized by the state,” said economist Camilo Tiscornia. “As a result, they have less disposable income and have to give up some more expensive goods, like beef.”
At the same time, household incomes did not rise at the same rate as beef prices, helping to reduce consumption.
Wages for registered workers rose an average of 1.8% in February, the most recent data available, compared with monthly inflation of 2.9%.
“Before, I had the freedom to buy what I wanted,” said Alberto Brajin, a 61-year-old retiree who runs a roadside barbecue stall in Buenos Aires.
Brajin said he now has to “trade up” on cheaper proteins like chicken.
Incomes fall, beef prices rise
Beef prices rose more than 60% over the past year, reaching an average of 18,500 pesos ($13) per kilogram in Buenos Aires in May, according to the Argentine Beef Promotion Institute.
In July 2025, Milei’s government cut export taxes on beef and poultry and removed production quotas to encourage overseas sales, reversing some of the restrictions imposed under former president Alberto Fernández to curb rising domestic prices. The easing of export regulations came just as Argentina’s beef production fell by more than 10 percent due to floods and droughts, according to CICCRA, the nonprofit organization that represents beef producers in Argentina.
Argentina’s government said this week that beef exports rose 54% in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, reaching about 200,000 tons worth more than $1 billion. The increase followed a US decision earlier this year to expand Argentina’s tariff-free beef quota among the American lack of cattle.
With the opening of the market, producers began selling beef – once affordable across much of Argentina’s social spectrum – at prices closer to international levels.
“Before, all meats had similar prices, which encouraged a high consumption of beef that did not reflect its real production costs,” explained agricultural consultant Iván Ordóñez.
Store owners learn to adapt
As beef becomes increasingly expensive for many Argentine families, chicken and pork are gaining ground as cheaper alternatives.
“We’ve chosen to buy pork and chicken because beef is so expensive,” said store owner Ruth Simon.
Chicken costs an average of 4,900 pesos ($3.50) per kilo, while pork ribs cost around 8,900 pesos ($6.30).
García, the butcher shop owner, said he started selling chicken and pork less than a year ago after noticing changes in customers’ eating habits.
“You have to adapt,” he said. “We can’t just sit around crying. Not crying. We have to work. We have to keep our dignity. We have to fight.”
By CLARA PREVE Associated Press
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