🚨Argentina: SMEs Survive by Downsizing and Lose Ground in Formal Employment

📉 Since the peak in 2023, more than 20,000 formal SMEs have disappeared, and 90% of the recent decline has been concentrated among microenterprises. The share of small firms in registered employment fell from 20% to 18% over the past decade, with formal employment 1.5% lower than it was ten years ago.

⚠️ This decline is due to the impact of current economic policy and growth driven by the primary and energy sectors, which generate fewer jobs than manufacturing or construction. In 2025, the economy grew by 4.4%, but manufacturing contracted by 3.9% and commerce by 1.3%.

📊 Over the past year, there were 186,700 new unregistered workers and 42,700 new single-tax payers, while formal SMEs lost 49,300 salaried employees: survival no longer means growth.