Argentina: Potato Prices Up 167% Year on Year, Third-Fastest in the Consumer Basket
Potato prices in Argentina rose 167.4% over the twelve months to September 2026, making it the consumer basket's third-fastest-rising item after onions and squash, while producer prices climbed 329% year on year.
Potato prices in Argentina rose 167.4 per cent over the twelve months to September 2026, making the tuber the third-fastest item in the country’s consumer food basket, official data show. Only onions (+257.9 per cent) and zapallo anco squash (+205.4 per cent) climbed faster, according to INDEC consumer price figures reported by iProfesional on October 13.
The annual surge dwarfs overall inflation: Argentina’s headline CPI rose 33.4 per cent year on year in September. Month on month, however, potato prices eased 3.3 per cent in September, and wholesale values at Buenos Aires’ Central Market had already shown volatility through the quarter, industry portal Argenpapa reported.
At the farm gate the picture is even starker. Producer prices are up 329 per cent year on year, according to Argenpapa’s market monitor, which moved the sector’s price signal to “green” — its strongest reading.
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The figures reflect a structural supply squeeze rather than a demand shock. Argentina’s potato area has shrunk by roughly 70 per cent since 1961 even as yields rose to 35.8 tonnes per hectare, and growers in northern Jujuy cut plantings this year after seed potato prices reached 60,000–65,000 pesos per bag, POTATOES NEWS reported earlier this month.
For consumers, the potato has drifted from staple to premium item in the space of a year. For growers, the price signal is an invitation to rebuild area — but seed costs, climate risk and the long rotation requirements of potato farming mean supply response will lag, agronomists note.
Whether retail prices keep cooling in October will depend on harvest flows from the Tucumán and Córdoba belts reaching the big-city markets.
Source: INDEC consumer price data via iProfesional, October 13, 2026 · Argenpapa market monitor, October 13–15, 2026 · Las 24 Horas de Jujuy. Read the iProfesional report here: https://www.iprofesional.com/finanzas/466518-los-5-productos-de-la-canasta-familiar-que-mas-aumentaron-en-un-ano
