Economics

Drought Could Trim a Third of Argentina’s Economic Growth This Year

  • A December survey saw the economy growing 2.9% in 2022
  • An early report sees dryness curbing GDP by $4.8 billion
Cracked soil on a farm during a heat wave in San Antonio de Areco, Buenos Aires province, Argentina.Photographer: Anita Pouchard Serra/Bloomberg
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Dryness that’s parching soybeans and corn across Argentina’s Pampas crop belt will shave $4.8 billion off the nation’s gross domestic product this year, according to one of the first analyses of the economic impact of the drought.

The estimate, made by the Rosario Board of Trade, means that Argentina is poised to lose outBloomberg Terminal on 1% of GDP as less revenue for farmers results in “less freight, less financial and intermediation services, and less consumption.” A December surveyBloomberg Terminal of economists by the central bank, carried out before the drought had fully gripped the Pampas, saw the economy growing 2.9% in 2022.