Buenos Aires: population and official figures
In depth
- Economy, jobs and prices in Buenos Aires: The unemployment rate in Buenos Aires was 8.2% in the second quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 11th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; it was 8.7% a year earlier, so it is down 0.5 percentage points. The rate for all 31 survey areas was 7.9%.
- Health in Buenos Aires: 35.6% of people in Buenos Aires had no health cover that they pay for or that is deducted from their pay (no social insurance, private plan or public plan) in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH); that is 11th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. The figure for all 31 survey areas was 34.1%.
- Education in Buenos Aires: 96.8% of children aged 4 to 17 in Buenos Aires were attending school in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 15th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the rate for all 31 survey areas was 96.8%.
- Poverty and living standards in Buenos Aires: 32.1% of people in Buenos Aires lived below the poverty line in the first half of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 14th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; across the 31 survey areas the rate was 32.3%. That is about 5,221,000 people.
What is the population of Buenos Aires?
Greater Buenos Aires (the city and its surrounding districts), which this site calls Buenos Aires, had an estimated 16,270,000 residents in the second quarter of 2026 in INDEC's Permanent Household Survey (EPH), the largest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. It is 53.9% of the 30,158,000 people living in the 31 urban areas the survey covers.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyHow many people live in a household in Buenos Aires?
Buenos Aires had an estimated 5,400,681 private households in the first quarter of 2026, an average of 3.01 people per household, 13th largest of 30 Argentine cities on this site on household size; the figure for all 31 survey areas is 2.95.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyHow many children live in Buenos Aires?
22.8% of residents of Buenos Aires were under 15 in the first quarter of 2026, 6th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site (all 31 survey areas: 22.2%).
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyHow many people work in Buenos Aires?
Of the 16,270,000 residents of Buenos Aires, 8,029,000 were in the labour force in the second quarter of 2026 (7,373,000 employed and 656,000 unemployed), a participation rate of 49.3%.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyWho runs Buenos Aires?
In Argentina, cities and towns are run by provinces: Governor and provincial legislature directly elected; Buenos Aires City elects its own head of government (jefe de gobierno) and legislature. Write their own constitutions, run police, schools, hospitals, courts and set the rules for their municipalities.
How local power works in Argentina
Cities of a similar size in Argentina
- Córdoba 1,618,000
- Rosario 1,368,000
- Mendoza 1,071,000
- La Plata 952,000
- Tucumán-Tafí Viejo 934,000
- Salta 679,000
- Mar del Plata-Batán 674,000
- San Juan 563,000
- Santa Fé 558,000
- Resistencia 430,000
- Santiago del Estero-La Banda 423,000
- Corrientes 397,000
Up a level: all cities in Argentina · Argentina · government and power
Sources
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Mercado de trabajo. Tasas e indicadores socioeconómicos (EPH), segundo trimestre de 2026 (Tables 3.2 and 3.3), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b0a700bac4db…)
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Encuesta Permanente de Hogares (EPH): bases de microdatos usuarias, individual y hogar, primer trimestre de 2026 (figures computed with the survey weights), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d9d23945d4b1…)
- Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC): Incidencia de la pobreza y la indigencia en 31 aglomerados urbanos, primer semestre de 2026 (Tables 4.1 and 4.2), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d944f84c823a…)
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