Argentina’s National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) examined household and individual incomes across 31 urban agglomerations in its second-quarter 2026 income-distribution report, released on 1 October. The Gini coefficient for the distribution of per-capita family income was 0.428, compared with 0.424 in the same quarter of 2025. A Gini value nearer zero represents a more equal distribution, while a value nearer one represents greater inequality. The four-thousandths annual increase is a measured change for the report’s defined sample and income concept; it does not establish a cause or mean every household’s income moved in the same direction.

Comparing the two ends of that distribution, the median per-capita family income of the highest tenth of the population was 13 times the median for the lowest tenth. That ratio was unchanged from the second quarter of 2025. The Gini uses the distribution across the population, whereas the top-to-bottom decile ratio compares only two groups, so the measures answer different questions. INDEC says it calculates Gini from detailed microdata rather than grouped deciles. The report presents income in nominal Argentine pesos and does not adjust the figures for inflation for its time comparisons.

Labour income accounted for 78.1% of total household income, with non-labour income making up the remaining 21.9%. The non-labour share was larger toward the lower end of the distribution: it was 67.3% in the first decile and 13.4% in the tenth when households were ranked by total family income. Non-labour sources can include pensions, social assistance, income from property or financial investments, and transfers. This classification does not imply that every household has the same mix of sources. Decile ranking is by total family income, and household size matters separately in per-capita measures.

Other headline measures in the report show why its income concepts should not be treated as interchangeable. Per-capita family income divides a household’s total income by its members; individual income counts the labour and non-labour sources received by one person. The ratio between the top and bottom deciles is 13 when medians are used, but 18 when means are compared. Means can be more sensitive to extreme values, so INDEC presents both ratios separately. The report also records total household income of 20.764 trillion pesos, average per-capita family income of 688,496 pesos, and a median of 500,000 pesos. These are monthly-reference-period income measures, not payments accumulated over the full three months.

The Permanent Household Survey, or EPH, covers 31 urban agglomerations rather than every settlement in Argentina. Its second-quarter sample consisted of 26,460 dwellings selected through a stratified, two-stage probability design. Results are estimates expanded from the sample and carry sampling error. INDEC says it uses survey procedures and income-specific weighting to reduce the effects of non-response to income questions. The income reference period comprises the complete calendar month preceding each survey week between 22 March and 13 June 2026. The publication therefore represents average monthly income across the quarter’s reference months.

The timing of additional annual salary payments also matters in comparisons. In Argentina, the extra salary payment commonly received in the first and third quarters is included in household income when it is collected; the second and fourth quarters are generally unaffected by that timing. Quarter-to-quarter movements should therefore not be read as changes in ordinary wages alone. INDEC’s comparison of the second quarter of 2025 with the second quarter of 2026 lines up the same seasonal quarter, but the monetary values remain nominal and are not price-adjusted. The institute advises readers to take this into account when comparing its figures with analyses that separately adjust for prices.

This report is not a direct measure of the poverty rate. It describes inequality, income scales for individuals and households, the mix of labour and other income, and per-capita family income. The Gini rose to 0.428 while the median top-to-bottom decile ratio held at 13, illustrating that different summaries of a distribution can move differently within the same period. Those figures alone do not identify a cause or support a general claim about household well-being. They are a sample-based snapshot for the second quarter of 2026, published by the national statistical office and expressed in nominal pesos. The survey’s scope, definitions, and reference months are essential to interpreting the results.