ARG · snapshot 2026-08-09
Argentina
HighOverall risk score
54.5
Percentile of scored universe
64th
Data coverage
97%
vs Australia (16.1)
+38.4
Category breakdown
Political Stability & Governance
High6 indicators · 100% coverage
Economic Resilience
Very High7 indicators · 100% coverage
Financial & Currency Risk
Very High5 indicators · 100% coverage
Business Environment
High3 indicators · 75% coverage
Security & Crime
High4 indicators · 100% coverage
Climate & Social Compliance
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Technology & Digital
Medium4 indicators · 100% coverage
Cultural Distance
High9 indicators · 100% coverage · not in overall score
Key risks and considerations
Argentina rates High for market entry — an overall risk score of 54.5, riskier than 64% of rated economies and 38 points riskier than Australia.
The main risk drivers are unstable prices (CPI 219.9%), an unstable currency (floating — crisis volatility (>35%)), elevated sovereign credit risk (OECD Category 7 / 7), a boom-bust growth record (±5.7 pp over the decade) and heavy public debt (net 80.3% of GDP).
Relative strengths: E-government development sits in the least-risky quarter of rated economies, and DFAT smartraveller advisory level and current account both rate Low, the least-risky rating band.
Possible mitigations
- Political violence. Consider political-violence and political-risk insurance, keep asset footprints light, and maintain an exit/continuity plan with defined triggers.
- Getting money out. Confirm profit-repatriation channels before committing capital: seek central-bank pre-approvals where required, consider an export-first model over an in-country entity, and structure via clear remittance jurisdictions.
- Currency risk. Invoice in AUD or USD where the market allows, hedge unavoidable exposure, shorten receivable cycles, and build FX buffers into pricing.
- Payment security. Elevated sovereign/transfer risk: prefer confirmed letters of credit or export credit insurance over open account terms, and watch for import-payment restrictions.
- Price instability. Use indexation clauses, shorter pricing cycles, and local-cost pass-through mechanisms so inflation (or deflation) doesn't silently erode margins.
- Payment fraud. Experts nominate this market as a cybercrime origin (World Cybercrime Index, 2021 survey): verify any change of bank details out-of-band, enforce MFA and dual authorisation on payments, and be sceptical of unsolicited counterparties.
Generated automatically from this snapshot’s indicator data — a starting point for analysis, not advice.
Indicators
| Indicator | Value | Risk score | Rating | Australia | Data source year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Political Stability & Governance | ||||||
| Voice & accountability (WGI) | 63.6 | 35.4 | Medium | |||
| Government effectiveness (WGI) | 54.9 | 42.2 | Medium | |||
| Regulatory quality (WGI) | 51.2 | 55.9 | High | |||
| Rule of law (WGI) | 52.6 | 54.8 | High | |||
| Control of corruption (WGI) | 41.3 | 56.3 | High | |||
| Political stability & absence of violence/terrorism (WGI PV) | 63.0 | 58.2 | High | |||
| Economic Resilience | ||||||
| GDP growth (3-yr average, %) | 0.4% (3-yr avg) | 70.0 | High | |||
| Growth volatility (10-yr std dev, pp) | ±5.7 pp | 80.0 | Very High | |||
| Government net debt (% of GDP) | 80.3 | 80.0 | Very High | |||
| Inflation (CPI %, vs income-group target) | 219.9 | 95.0 | Very High | |||
| Current account (3-yr average, % of GDP) | -1.1% (3-yr avg) | 15.0 | Low | |||
| FX reserves (months of import cover) | 4.1 months | 30.0 | Medium | |||
| GDP per capita (PPP, current intl $) | $32,587 | 39.4 | Medium | |||
| Financial & Currency Risk | ||||||
| Capital-account openness (Chinn-Ito KAOPEN) | 0.16 | 78.0 | Very High | |||
| Currency stability (regime-aware classification) | Floating — crisis volatility (>35%) | 95.0 | Very High | |||
| Sovereign credit risk (OECD country risk classification) | Category 7 / 7 | 92.0 | Very High | |||
| FATF listing (grey / black list status) | Not listed | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Double-tax agreement with Australia | In force | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Business Environment | ||||||
| FDI regulatory restrictiveness (OECD FDIRRI) | 0.09 | 50.9 | High | |||
| Logistics performance (World Bank LPI) | 2.8 | 53.6 | High | |||
| Business readiness (World Bank B-READY pillar average) | — | — | Insufficient data | |||
| Investment protection with Australia in force (BIT or FTA investment chapter) | In force | 0.0 | Low | |||
| Security & Crime | ||||||
| Armed-conflict intensity (battle deaths per 100k, 5-yr) | 0.1 | 77.6 | Very High | |||
| Intentional homicide rate (per 100k) | 4.5 | 65.9 | High | |||
| Organised crime pervasiveness (GI-TOC criminality score) | 5.3 | 55.7 | High | |||
| DFAT Smartraveller advisory level | Level 1 — Exercise normal safety precautions | 10.0 | Low | |||
| Climate & Social Compliance | ||||||
| Physical climate vulnerability (ND-GAIN vulnerability) | 0.408 | 33.9 | Medium | |||
| Disaster risk (INFORM Risk Index) | 3.0 | 36.9 | Medium | |||
| Modern-slavery prevalence (per 1,000) | 4.2 | 35.3 | Medium | |||
| Modern-slavery vulnerability score | 35.5 | 27.8 | Medium | |||
| Technology & Digital | ||||||
| E-government development (UN EGDI) | 0.9 | 21.5 | Low | |||
| Internet users (% of population) | 89.7 | 31.5 | Medium | |||
| Cybercrime origination (World Cybercrime Index) | 0.1 | 30.0 | Medium | |||
| Secure internet servers (per million people) | 5453.4 | 34.2 | Medium | |||
Per-indicator ratings are quartile bands of the 0–100 risk score. The Australia column shows the same indicator’s raw value for the Australian baseline in this snapshot.
Cultural distance
GLOBE 2004 societal practices · rated on distance from Australia · not in the overall score
Context — not scored
Unemployment
7.1%
Displayed, never scored: ambiguous for an entrant and unreliable where informal employment dominates. (2025, ILO modelled)
Trade agreement
No Australian FTA in force
Market access is decision-relevant but a benefit, not a risk — kept out of the rating.
Regional advisories
Higher levels apply in some areas (up to Level 2)
DFAT Smartraveller sub-national advice where it exceeds the overall level.
Compare with
A score means little on its own. These economies scored closest to Argentina in this snapshot, which is the fastest way to see whether the rating is telling you something specific or something regional.