More than 32,000 companies have closed in Argentina under Javier Milei
The employer registry of the Superintendence of Labor Risks fell from 512,357 to 480,067 between November 2023 and July 2026. That is 437,000 fewer formal jobs, and 99.7% of the lost companies have up to 500 employees.
Adapted translation of the Portuguese original. Read the original.
IllustrationMore than 32,000 companies closed
In November 2023, the month before Javier Milei took office, Argentina had 512,357 employers with workers registered with the Superintendence of Labor Risks (SRT), the social security body that covers formal jobs. In July 2026, the latest data, there were 480,067. The difference, 32,290 fewer employers, equals 6.3% of the starting total and was reported on October 9 and 10 by the newspaper Ámbito and the news agency EFE, based on a report by the Center for Argentine Political Economy (CEPA).
Over the same period, registered jobs fell from 9,857,173 to 9,419,562: 437,611 fewer formal jobs, or 4.4%. In July 2026 alone, Argentina lost 948 employers and 3,485 jobs. In the first seven months of 2026, there were 9,682 fewer employers, almost 2% of what existed in December.
Who closed
The CEPA report with data through February 2026, the latest whose full text Abestadão read, details the makeup of the loss, which then totaled 24,437 employers. Transport and storage led, with 6,193 fewer; commerce and vehicle repair, 5,794; real estate services, 3,555; manufacturing, 3,073; professional services, 2,572; agriculture and fishing, 2,324.
Company size is the figure that says the most about what is happening. Of the companies that left the registry through February, 99.71% had up to 500 workers. The large ones, with more than 500, were 71 cases, 0.29% of the total. In relative terms, small and medium companies fell 4.77% and large ones 3.93%. The business base shrank from below.
What the number measures, and what it does not
The phrase “32,000 companies closed” is the one used by the Argentine press and EFE, and it is the one in this headline. It is worth knowing what lies behind it: the official figure is the net balance of employers with registered workers. A company that laid off all its employees and kept existing with the owner alone leaves the registry; a new company that hired enters it. The balance of 32,290 is the result of those entries and exits, and it is the best public measure available of Argentina's formal business fabric.
Two other cautions. The starting point, November 2023, is the month before the inauguration, a choice all the sources consulted adopt. And the series comes from a workplace accident insurance system: it covers formal employment and says nothing about informal work, which is large in Argentina.
The July context
The month of the latest data was not an outlier. According to EFE, citing official numbers, Argentine economic activity fell 2.9% in July from June and 1.4% from July 2025, with year-over-year inflation of 33.8%. The relative drop in the number of companies (6.3%) is larger than that in employment (4.4%), which is consistent with a loss concentrated among small employers: each takes few jobs with it.
This analysis does not attribute the trajectory to any specific government measure, because the sources consulted do not make that attribution with data. What they support is the balance: Argentina reached July 2026 with 32,290 fewer employer companies and 437,611 fewer formal jobs than it had on the eve of the inauguration. No response from the Argentine government was found in the sources consulted; the piece will be updated if there is one.
The numbers
| Indicator | Value | Period | Area | Method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Employers with registered workers (SRT) | 512,357 → 480,067 employers (Nov. 2023 → Jul. 2026) | November 2023 to July 2026 | Argentina | Net balance of the SRT registry; not a count of closures Source |
| Change in employers | −32,290 employers (−6.3%) | November 2023 to July 2026 | Argentina | Difference between the two months; 948 fewer in July alone Source |
| Registered formal jobs | 9,857,173 → 9,419,562 jobs (−437,611, −4.4%) | November 2023 to July 2026 | Argentina | Workers covered by the labor risks system Source |
| Share of lost companies with up to 500 workers | 99.71% % of cases, through February 2026 | November 2023 to February 2026 | Argentina | CEPA based on SRT; 71 cases among companies with more than 500 workers Source |
Sources
- Se acelera la destrucción de empresas: en julio se perdieron casi 1.000 empleadores
Employers from 512,357 to 480,067 (−32,290, −6.3%); registered jobs from 9,857,173 to 9,419,562 (−437,611, −4.4%); July: −948 employers and −3,485 jobs; January to July 2026: −9,682 (−1.98%). SRT data.
Part of the text is restricted to subscribers.
- Argentina: 32 mil empresas cerradas y casi 500 mil empleos perdidos en lo que va del gobierno de Milei
The report is from CEPA, published on 10/10/2026; year-over-year inflation of 33.8% in July; economic activity −2.9% in the month and −1.4% year over year in July.
The wire dispatch says 'empresas cerradas' (closed companies); the source measures registered employers. The page states that the summary was generated with AI and reviewed by the author.
- Análisis de la dinámica laboral y empresarial. Datos a febrero 2026
Methodology: SRT data, from the social security system. Through February 2026: −24,437 employers; transport and storage −6,193, commerce −5,794, real estate services −3,555, manufacturing −3,073, professional services −2,572, agriculture and fishing −2,324; companies with more than 500 workers account for 0.29% of cases (71).
Copy hosted on a third-party site; the original on CEPA's site was not opened.
