📰 Special Report | Argentine Economy

Massive closure of companies in Argentina: a phenomenon that deepens

✅ Panorama general

Argentina is going through one of the most critical periods for its productive framework in more than a decade. Between 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, 97,110 companies closed and only 79,787 opened, which left a negative balance of 17,323 firms and a net loss of 17,949 registered jobs, according to official data from the Ministry of Labor.

The deterioration was not abrupt, but persistent: each quarter showed a decline in the number of active companies, with a trend that has not yet found a bottom.

📉 Quarterly evolution of company closures

Official data show a sustained drop:

In total: more than 17,000 fewer companies in 15 months.

🏭 Sectoral impact: industry on alert

The industrial sector is one of the hardest hit. In the last weeks of November 2025 alone, five manufacturing companies closed their plants, leaving more than 400 workers laid off in Buenos Aires, La Rioja and San Luis.

The most affected items:

• Metallurgy
• Appliances
• Textile
• Auto Parts

The combination of falling domestic consumption and increased imports deepened the crisis in medium and large factories.

🧊 Emblematic case: Whirlpool abandons local production

The American multinational Whirlpool announced the definitive closure of its washing machine plant in Pilar, leaving 220 employees unemployed and putting an end to its industrial activity in the country.

The company will continue to operate only as an importer and distributor, a structural change that reflects the loss of competitiveness of the Argentine manufacturing sector.

📌 Factors that explain the phenomenon

🔹 1. Fall in domestic consumption

The contraction of purchasing power reduced demand in almost all areas.

🔹 2. Opening of imports

The flexibility of foreign trade generated strong competition for local industry, especially in durable goods and textiles.

🔹 3. Rising operating costs

Rates, logistics, rents and tax burdens put pressure on profitability.

🔹 4. Macroeconomic instability

Exchange rate volatility and lack of predictability discourage investment and make planning difficult.

👥 Impact on employment

The net loss of nearly 18,000 registered jobs does not reflect the full impact, as many businesses that continue to operate also cut staff or adjusted production shifts.

🔮 Perspectives

Although some indicators show a moderation in job destruction towards the end of 2024, the trend of business closures continues in 2025. Recovery will depend on:

• Macroeconomic stability
• Production incentives
• Smart import protection policies
• Reactivation of domestic consumption

With no clear signs of reversal, Argentina's productive framework faces a historic challenge.

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