Filling a shopping trolley with basic products can be as much as 11 percent more expensive depending on the province, according to a private study.
A provincial breakdown of consumer prices undertaken by the Analytica consultancy firm showed that food is at its most expensive in Patagonia, with a basic trolley of goods costing 11 percent more in southern Santa Cruz Province than Misiones in the north.
According to the Analytica survey, a “monthly shop” style trolley of popular goods chosen for the study in the Patagonian region cost 769,319 pesos, the most expensive in the country, whereas in the border province it was 691,579 pesos – the cheapest in the poll.
The shopping cart contains a typical monthly shop of food and beverages at the supermarket for a middle-class family, comprising two adults and two minors. In order to ensure the comparability between provinces, the products included were of the same brand and size (the basis for the survey can be found online on the firm’s website).
The provinces with the most expensive carts were all southern: Santa Cruz, Chubut (759,467 pesos), Tierra del Fuego (751,937 pesos) and Río Negro (742,188 pesos). At the other end of the scale were the northern regions of Formosa (693,746 pesos), Chaco (693,219 pesos) and Misiones (691,579 pesos).
The regions registering the highest monthly increase of supermarket costs were Jujuy (+3.9 percent), Catamarca (+2.5 percent) and Corrientes (+2.5 percent). Minor increases took place in Misiones (+1.0 percent) and Santa Cruz (+0.7 percent).
Comparing absolute values as of June 27, 2025, the highest rises occurred in Catamarca (+34,000 pesos), Corrientes (+29,927 pesos), Jujuy (+28,213 pesos) and La Rioja (+23,139 pesos). The provinces with the lowest jumps were all in Patagonia: Tierra del Fuego (+8,631 pesos), Neuquén (+6,422 pesos), Río Negro (+5,404 pesos) and Santa Cruz (+4,997 pesos).
Normal sliced bread recorded greater increases in nearly all provinces, above 5 percent. Its rise was more moderate in Catamarca (+2.5 percent), La Rioja (+2.5 percent) and Jujuy (+2.9 percent). The price of sugar climbed between 3 and 5 percent in nearly all provinces. Exceptions include Córdoba (+1.3 percent), San Luis (+1.6 percent), Santiago del Estero (+1.9 percent), Tucumán (+2.3 percent), San Juan (+7.6 percent) and Misiones (+7.6 percent).
Instant coffee increased between two and three percent in most provinces. There was a lower hike in some Patagonian provinces like Chubut (+0.6 percent), Santa Cruz (+0.3 percent) and Tierra del Fuego (+0.3 percent).
Packaged chicken breasts rose between 3 and 5 percent in almost all provinces. Exceptions include Chubut (+1.5 percent), Neuquén (+1.0 percent), Río Negro (+1.3 percent), Santa Cruz (+0.8 percent) and Tierra del Fuego (+1.6 percent).
Tinned sweetcorn dropped in price in most provinces. Extreme cases were Chaco (-5.5 percent), San Juan (-4.3 percent) and Formosa (-3.4 percent).
– TIMES/NA
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