section_path: Economy
section_name: Economy
paragraph_text: Economy
  
  Benefiting from rich natural resources, a highly literate population, a diversified industrial base, and an export-oriented agricultural sector, the economy of Argentina is Latin America's third-largest, and the second-largest in South America. Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world, on the 20th century in 1913 it was one of the wealthiest countries in the world by GDP per capita It has a " very high " rating on the Human Development Index and ranks 66th by nominal GDP per capita, with a considerable internal market size and a growing share of the high-tech sector. As a middle emerging economy and one of the world's top developing nations, it is a member of the G-20 major economies.
  
  Argentina is the largest producer in the world of yerba mate (due to the large domestic consumption of mate), one of the five largest producers in the world of soybeans, maize, sunflower seed, lemon and pear, one of the ten largest producers in the world of barley, grape, artichoke, tobacco and cotton, and one of the 15 largest producers in the world of wheat, sugarcane, sorghum and grapefruit. It is the largest producer in South America of wheat, sunflower seed, barley, lemon and pear. In wine, Argentina is usually among the ten largest producers in the world. Argentina is also a traditional meat exporter, having been, in 2019, the 4th world producer of beef, with a production of 3 million tons (only behind US, Brazil and China), the 4th world producer of honey, and the 10th world producer of wool, in addition to other relevant productions.
  
  The mining industry of Argentina is not as relevant as that of other countries. It stands out for being the fourth-largest producer of lithium, 9th of silver and 17th of gold worldwide (based on 2019 data). The country stands out in the production of natural gas, being the largest producer in South America and the 18th-largest in the world, and has an average annual production close to 500 thousand barrels/day of petroleum, even with the under-utilization of the Vaca Muerta field, due to the country's technical and financial inability to extract these resources.
  
  In 2012, manufacturing accounted for 20.3% of GDP—the largest sector in the nation's economy. Well-integrated into Argentine agriculture, half of the industrial exports have rural origin. With a 6.5% production growth rate in 2011, the diversified manufacturing sector rests on a steadily growing network of industrial parks (314 as of 2013) In 2012 the leading sectors by volume were: food processing, beverages and tobacco products; motor vehicles and auto parts; textiles and leather; refinery products and biodiesel; chemicals and pharmaceuticals; steel, aluminum and iron; industrial and farm machinery; home appliances and furniture; plastics and tires; glass and cement; and recording and print media. In addition, Argentina has since long been one of the top five wine-producing countries in the world.
  
  High inflation —a weakness of the Argentine economy for decades—has become a trouble once again, with an annual rate of 24.8% in 2017. In 2023 the inflation reached 102.5% among the highest inflation rates in the world. Approximately 43% of the Argentina's population lives below the poverty line as of 2023. To deter it and support the peso, the government imposed foreign currency control. Income distribution, having improved since 2002, is classified as "medium", although it is still considerably unequal. In January 2024, Argentina's poverty rate reached 57.4%, the highest poverty rate in the country since 2004.
  
  Argentina ranks 85th out of 180 countries in the Transparency International 's 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index, an improvement of 22 positions over its 2014 rankings. Argentina settled its long-standing debt default crisis in 2016 with the so-called vulture funds after the election of Mauricio Macri, allowing Argentina to enter capital markets for the first time in a decade. The government of Argentina defaulted on 22 May 2020 by failing to pay a $500 million bill by its due date to its creditors. Negotiations for the restructuring of $66 billion of its debt continue.
  
  Poverty in Argentina was 41.7 percent at the end of the second half of 2023.