Argentina’s national statistics bureau, INDEC, reported a 2.9% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January 2026, with hygiene products showing a notable surge in prices despite a lower overall increase within the sector. The report, released Wednesday, detailed a 5.4% rise in deodorant prices and a 4.4% increase for bar soap during the month.
While the overall hygiene basket increased by 1.8% – significantly below the general CPI – certain items drove the sector’s price hikes. INDEC data shows cotton balls mirrored the general CPI increase at 2.9%, while shampoo saw a more moderate rise of 1.3%. Disposable diapers, however, experienced a price decrease of 1.6% in January.
The combined cost of these five hygiene products – deodorant, bar soap, cotton balls, shampoo, and disposable diapers – reached $17,714.80 (approximately US$12.25 as of February 11, 2026, using a BCRA exchange rate of $1,445.77 to the dollar) in January. This represents an increase from $17,405.84 (approximately US$11.72, using a BCRA exchange rate of $1,484.09 to the dollar) in December 2025.
Broader price increases within the CPI were led by fresh filet of merluza, with a 12.8% jump, followed by whole chicken at 8.9% and frozen hamburgers at 6%. Cooked ham rose by 5.9%, and packaged water crackers increased by 5.7%. Deodorant and bar soap ranked seventh and ninth, respectively, in terms of price increases across all tracked goods.
The release of the January CPI follows a period of transition at INDEC, with the recent resignation of Marco Lavagna as director amid disagreements with the government over methodology changes for calculating inflation. According to reporting from Infobae, the government postponed updating the methodology that would incorporate new household spending data, a process Lavagna had been working on since 2022. Minister of Economy Luis Caputo indicated the updated methodology would have resulted in a difference of only 0.1 percentage points in the January CPI calculation.
Private consultants had projected a national inflation rate for January between 2.4% and 2.7%, as reported by Clarín. The city of Buenos Aires saw a higher inflation rate of 3.1% in January, according to its own statistical agency, a figure that preceded the national INDEC release. This city-level index uses a different consumer basket based on data from 2017-2018, updated in 2022, as noted by La Nación.
The INDEC is scheduled to continue using the existing methodology for the foreseeable future, with the implementation of a new household spending survey and subsequent CPI adjustments potentially delayed until 2030, according to Clarín.
