Buenos Aires, 28 September 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The percentage of people living below the poverty line in Argentina has risen to 40.1%, official statistics released on Wednesday revealed.

According to the figures, released by the national statistics agency Indec, the percentage of the population living in poverty increased by 0.9% in the first half of 2023 compared to the second half of 2022.

In Argentina, a person is considered poor if they live in a household whose income is not sufficient to afford basic supplies.

The figures were released just over three weeks before Argentina's presidential election.

South America's second-largest economy is in the midst of a severe financial and economic crisis. The inflation rate is 124%, according to the latest official figures. The national currency, the peso, is in free fall and the mountain of debt is piling up.

On October 22, Argentines will elect a successor to leftist Prime Minister Alberto Fernández.

The libertarian populist Javier Milei, said to be ideologically close to former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and ex-US president Donald Trump, emerged victorious from the primaries, while the Peronist government camp will be represented by Economy Minister Sergio Massa.