LIVING STANDARDS AND PURCHASING POWER

Argentina has perhaps a higher per capita income than say other South American country. The only complete study was made in 1916, when it was estimated that the per capita income was the equivalent of approximately $276, United States currency,

Production and Consumption.-Production of movable goods in Argentina in 1937 was valued at 6,450,000,000 paper pesos ($2,141,000,000), or a per capita production of around 511 pesos ($170), according to estimates by the Argentine economist, Dr. Alejandro E. Bunge. The per capita production in 1937 was almost identical with that in 1927-29, when it was 510 pesos ($215); but at the official rate of exchange the value in dollars in 1937 works out 20 percent less than that in 1927-29, owing to the depreciation of the peso. In 1910-12, production was estimated at 2,364,000,000 pesos ($1,008,520,000), or 312 pesos ($132) per capita.

The per capita production of movable goods in the United States was valued at $256 in 1935, the latest year for which con plete data are available.

Dr. Bunge does not give a detailed analysis of production by industrial groups, but the census of manufactures in 1935 showed that the total value of manufactured products in that year was 3,442,408,296 pesos. Deducting from this total the value of the raw materials used, 1,960,445,754 pesos, there results a "net value added by manufacturing" of 1,481,962,542 pesos.

Forty percent of Argentina's movable production was exported during the period 1910-13, and 33 percent in 1936. This compares with around 10 percent or less in the United States.

The average annual value of the national consumption in the period 1910-13, according to Dr. Bunge, was 2,454,000,000 paper pesos, of which 60 percent was produced in the country and 40 percent imported. In 1936, the consumption reached 4,883,000,000 pesos, of which 75.8 percent was produced in Argentina and 24.2 percent imported.

In 1937 there were 997,637 consumers of electricity in Argentina and approximately 1,000,000 radio receiving sets, or, in both cases, 1 to every 13 persons in the Republic. Trade estimates indicate that there were 25,000 installations of electrical refrigerators or about 1 to each 506 persons. Registrations of automotive vehicles (including passenger cars, trucks, and busses), totaled 264,000, or 1 to each 48 persons. Telephones listed numbered 333,000, or a ratio of 1 to each 38 persons. Approximately 80 per cent of the electrical refrigerators and 48 percent of the automotive registrations were in the Province of Buenos Aires and the Federal District, and possibly similar or even higher percentages would apply in the case of telephones, radio sets, and consumers of electricity in those two areas.

Occupations. The middle class is small but is growing rapidly, in view of the increasing industrialization of the country. The occupational distribution of the population in 1914 and in 1933 is shown in table 3.

Table 3. Distribution, by Occupations, of the Gainfully Employed in Argentina, 1914 and 1933

Income and Wages.-The income of the laboring classes, both urban and rural, is barely sufficient for the necessities of life and therefore does not permit the purchase of imported articles or household accessories such as have a wide distribution in the United States.

The industrial census of 1935 showed 573,948 persons engaged in manufacturing, of whom 51,296 were proprietors or directors, 53.973 comprised the administrative and technical personnel, and 468,679 were manual workers. The average income of the salaried group was 2,824 pesos annually, or 235.33 pesos a month (roughly $78), while the working group received an average of 1,174 pesos annually, or 97.90 pesos a month (roughly, $33). Over 46 percent of the pay roll was paid out in the Federal capital, and another 26 percent went to workers and employees in the surrounding Province of Buenos Aires.

On a daily basis, the average wage for unskilled or semiskilled labor at Buenos Aires ranges from 4.45 to 6.65 pesos a day. For skilled labor the range is from 8 to 12 pesos. In domestic service, cooks receive an average of 60 to 90 pesos a month, helpers from 25 to 35 pesos, and porters from 90 to 120 pesos. In the interior, the wages average slightly lower.

A study made by the National Labor Office in 1935 showed that 56.92 percent of the income of the average working family in Buenos Aires was spent for food, 20.54 percent for lodging, 10.34 percent for clothing. 3.86 percent for household expenses, and 8.34 percent for miscellaneous goods and services. The investigation also showed that most of the working-class families lived in one room.

CHIEF ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

Argentina's economic position has been built up largely during the last half-century through the export of wool, hides, meat, a d grains. Prior to 1904, animal products occupied the leading place in the export trade, but as the country filled up with immig ants, the fertile fields of the pampas were brought into cultivation, and agricultural products, principally wheat, corn, and linseed, came to exceed in value the shipments of pastoral products which had been the basis of Argentine economy since colonial times. Forest products-principally quebracho logs and extract-account for about 2 percent of the value of exports. Exports of manufactured products are negligible.

Some indication of the relative importance of the chief economic activities in Argentina is given in table 4.

Table 4.-Value of Production in Argentina by Leading Industrial Groups, 1927 and 1933

Source: Burge, Alejandro E., Present Economic Situation of the Argentine (Revista de Economía Argentina, October-December 1935).

Agricultural and Pastoral.-Argentina ranks along with Canada as one of the two most important surplus-food-producing countries of the world, being the largest exporter of corn and beef, at times exceeding Canada as an exporter of wheat, and ranking second to New Zealand in shipments of mutton and lamb. In the period 1932-37, 60 percent of the wheat, 91 percent of the linseed, and 79.5 percent of the corn production was exported. Since the World War a more diversified output has been sought, and considerable success has been achieved with cotton, yerba maté, fruits, poultry, and dairy products.

The agricultural census of 1937 disclosed that on June 30 of that year there were 439,874 agricultural establishments, of which 164,871 were operated by owners, 197,174 by tenants, and 77,929 were worked under other arrangements. Of these producers, 263,889 were Argentines (12,240 naturalized citizens, 60,721 Italians, 45,514 Spanish, and 57,510 of other foreig: nationalities. Approximately 74,000,000 acres are under cultvation, mostly in grains; 306,000,000 acres are devoted to pas turage, 124,000,000 acres are in timber, and other surface tertory totals about 185,000,000 acres. In 1937 there W 33,100,512 cattle, 43,790,000 sheep, 3,976,000 pigs, 8,527.07 horses, 4,875,000 goats, and 905,000 asses and mules in Argtina. There were also 43,285,000 head of poultry and 262,524 beehives.

Manufacturing.-Prior to the World War, manufacturing was limited to the processing of foodstuffs (refrigerated meats, fort, sugar, and other products) and to supplying the bulk of te articles of common use, such as shoes, hats, furniture, sez candles, matches, brick, and the like. There were also w equipped foundries and machine shops, particularly those of 7ated by the railways, tramways, and shipping lines. During the

war a number of new industries were established and old cras were greatly expanded, as a result of the difficulty of obtaining necessary supplies from abroad. The establishment of branch factories by foreign companies also was started during the war, and continued during the post-war years.

Manufacturing entered upon a new period of rapid growth. beginning around 1933, fostered by exchange restrictions, higher import duties, increasing nationalistic sentiment, and expanding prosperity. A number of large and efficiently equipped plants were erected during the years 1935 to 1937, both by Argentine capitalists and by foreign interests. An industrial census taxel in 1935 revealed the position of the leading branches of manufac turing at that time. (See table 5 for distribution of industry by leading industrial groups, and table 6 for geographic distribution of industry.)

The principal industries-meat packing, wine making, and sugar refining involve the processing of foodstuffs. The textile industry, of recent growth, has expanded greatly since 1930 In 1936 it was estimated that domestic mills supplied one-third of the consumption of cotton cloth, 60 percent of the linen, 80 percent of the woolen goods, and most of the knit goods. There are about 350,000 spindles producing low-count yarns. Branch factories of foreign ownership assemble most of the motor ve hicles, radios, and electric refrigerators used in Argentina others manufacture tires, electrical equipment, and pharmaceuticals. There have also been important developments in the chemical field. One rayon plant began operation in 1935, and commercial production by another started in 1937.