This week, the Economic Observatory of the Salto headquarters of the Catholic University published the Indicator of Border Prices (IPF) updated to January 2023. The measurement showed that the price gap between that city and Concordia in Argentina continues to grow.
According to the indicator, for the set of selected goods, and given their weightings in the household consumption expenditure structure, It is 59% cheaper to purchase the products chosen for the study in Concordia than in Salto. while seen From Concordia’s point of view, the indicator shows that Salto is 144% more expensive, an increase of 14% compared to 2022.
This indicator compares the difference in prices for a selected basket of 60 items representative of border transactions between the two cities that are collected in large stores and reference stores, and the blue dollar exchange rate is taken.
The evolution of the index over time
Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages
Food and non-alcoholic beverages It is the category that has the greatest incidence in the indicator and for the measurement 30 articles are collected. In the measurement of January of this year, all the articles are more expensive in Salto, and they reached a 164% difference in prices for the total division.
In this list there are different products of the basic basket such as bread, rice, flour, noodles, minced meat, oil, eggs, sugar, milk, tomato pulp, yerba and soft drinksamong others.
The following table shows that 43% of the surveyed items have a price difference between 100% and 200%.
Differences in food and non-alcoholic beverages
Alcoholic drinks and cigarettes
This category is “systematically more expensive in Salto than in Concordia”, highlights the University report. Wine, beer in supermarkets and cigarettes in kiosks they show differences of 116%, 188% and 291% respectively. For its part, the difference in whiskey is 31%.
Clothing and footwear
in garments The report indicates that although there is dispersion in the observed price differences, all the items considered are more expensive in Salto. The greatest difference occurs in women’s jean, where the differences reach 80.6%. For children’s sports shoes, the differences are smaller and stand at 16%.
Domestic products
The price difference in this division reaches 107%, a decrease compared to 2022. Powdered soap is 189% more expensive in Salto, while the difference for detergent is 174%.
Transport and fuels
The price of a liter Gasoline in Salto is 146.8% more expensive than in Concordia (considering the benefit of Imesi) and diesel is 191%. Unlike other items, covers, tires and tubes are 47% cheaper in Salto, something that the study explains is due to a supply problem in Concordia.
eating away from home
In the case of meals outside the home, soft drinks and mineral water have price differences of 180% and 100%, while for the complete hamburger and pizza with mozzarella the differences are 250% and 104.5%.
Miscellaneous goods and services
This division presents a significant difference in prices in most of the items surveyed, reaching 229% and one of the largest increases compared to last year. The price differences are 328% for shampoo, 230% for toothpaste, 201% for toilet soap, 284% for deodorant, and 118% for toilet paper.
