Rio Gallegos: population and official figures
In depth
- Economy, jobs and prices in Rio Gallegos: The unemployment rate in Rio Gallegos was 8.8% in the second quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 7th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; it was 6.2% a year earlier, so it is up 2.6 percentage points. The rate for all 31 survey areas was 7.9%.
- Health in Rio Gallegos: 7.3% of people in Rio Gallegos 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 2nd lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. The figure for all 31 survey areas was 34.1%.
- Education in Rio Gallegos: 97.2% of children aged 4 to 17 in Rio Gallegos were attending school in the first quarter of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 15th highest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; the rate for all 31 survey areas was 96.8%.
- Poverty and living standards in Rio Gallegos: 25.6% of people in Rio Gallegos lived below the poverty line in the first half of 2026 (INDEC EPH), 6th lowest of 30 Argentine cities on this site; across the 31 survey areas the rate was 32.3%. That is about 35,000 people.
What is the population of Rio Gallegos?
The Río Gallegos urban area, which this site calls Rio Gallegos, had an estimated 135,000 residents in the second quarter of 2026 in INDEC's Permanent Household Survey (EPH), joint smallest of 30 Argentine cities on this site. It is 0.4% 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 Rio Gallegos?
Rio Gallegos had an estimated 49,976 private households in the first quarter of 2026, an average of 2.70 people per household, 10th smallest 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 Rio Gallegos?
22.8% of residents of Rio Gallegos were under 15 in the first quarter of 2026, 4th 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 Rio Gallegos?
Of the 135,000 residents of Rio Gallegos, 66,000 were in the labour force in the second quarter of 2026 (60,000 employed and 6,000 unemployed), a participation rate of 48.8%.
Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos (INDEC) · saved copyWho runs Rio Gallegos?
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
- Paraná 289,000
- Formosa 268,000
- Comodoro Rivadavia-Rada Tilly 263,000
- San Luis - El Chorrillo 256,000
- La Rioja 243,000
- Catamarca 237,000
- San Nicolás-Villa Constitución 201,000
- Río Cuarto 185,000
- Ushuaia-Río Grande 184,000
- Concordia 167,000
- Rawson-Trelew-Playa Unión 154,000
- Santa Rosa-Toay 135,000
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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