Santa Cruz: population, poverty, jobs and provincial finances

Santa Cruz is a province of Argentina, number 23 of 24 by population. The 2022 national census counted 337,226 people in Santa Cruz, 0.7% of Argentina's 45,892,285; 2nd smallest of the 23 provinces and Buenos Aires City by population.

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in Santa Cruz: The 2022 census found 13,561 unemployed people in Santa Cruz out of 172,698 economically active residents aged 14 and over, an unemployment rate of 7.9%; 11th lowest of the 23 provinces and Buenos Aires City (Argentina: 8.5%).
• Health in Santa Cruz: The infant mortality rate in Santa Cruz was 11.5 deaths before the first birthday per 1,000 live births in 2023, 2nd highest of Argentina's 24 jurisdictions (Argentina: 8.0); 36 babies under one died that year.
• Education in Santa Cruz: 84,793 students were enrolled in mainstream education in Santa Cruz in 2025: 11,092 in pre-school, 39,641 in primary, 30,885 in secondary and 3,175 in non-university higher education (0.8% of Argentina's 11.13 million).
• Poverty and living standards in Santa Cruz: 25.6% of people in the Río Gallegos urban area lived below the poverty line in the first half of 2026, about 35,000 people; 7th lowest of the 32 urban areas INDEC reports (all 31 areas: 32.3%). INDEC measures income poverty only in these urban areas, not across whole provinces.
• Government budget and revenue in Santa Cruz: The provincial government of Santa Cruz took in 2.33 trillion pesos and spent 2.48 trillion pesos in 2025 (provisional figures for the non-financial public administration). Revenue came to about 6,914,195 pesos per resident (2022 census population), 3rd highest of the 23 jurisdictions with data.

How provinces are governed in Argentina

Provinces (23) + Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. 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.

Every tier of government in Argentina

Other provinces of Argentina

• Buenos Aires Province 17,523,996
• Cordoba 3,840,905
• Santa Fe 3,544,908
• Buenos Aires City 3,121,707
• Mendoza 2,043,540
• Tucuman 1,731,820
• Salta 1,441,351
• Entre Rios 1,425,578
• Misiones 1,278,873
• Corrientes 1,212,696
• Chaco 1,129,606
• Santiago del Estero 1,060,906
• San Juan 822,853
• Jujuy 811,611
• Rio Negro 750,768
• Neuquen 710,814
• Formosa 607,419
• Chubut 592,621
• San Luis 542,069
• Catamarca 429,562
• La Rioja 383,865
• La Pampa 361,859
• Tierra del Fuego 185,732

Up a level: Argentina · government and power in Argentina · cities

Sources

• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Censo 2022, resultados definitivos: Cuadro 7, percentage of the population aged 65 and over by jurisdiction, censuses 1970-2022, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d4a9b4b4fe07…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Censo Nacional de Poblacion, Hogares y Viviendas 2022, resultados definitivos: Cuadro 2, total population and density by surface area and jurisdiction, 2010 and 2022, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 c7e707ff84a6…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Censo 2022, resultados definitivos: Cuadro 1, population aged 14 and over in private dwellings by economic activity status and jurisdiction, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fa4f85e28dc7…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Mercado de trabajo: tasas e indicadores socioeconomicos (EPH), segundo trimestre de 2026: Cuadros 1.2-1.4 and 1.8 (labour-market rates by urban area, reference population, unemployment coefficients of variation, unemployment series 2016-2026), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1e66ffc84c08…)
• Ministerio de Economia, Secretaria de Hacienda: Subsecretaria de Coordinacion Fiscal Provincial (Direccion Nacional de Asuntos Provinciales): Ejecucion presupuestaria provisoria, consolidado Administracion Publica No Financiera, IV trimestre 2025 (full year 2025, millions of pesos, by province), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b75e07833b28…)
• Ministerio de Economia, Secretaria de Hacienda: Subsecretaria de Coordinacion Fiscal Provincial (Direccion Nacional de Asuntos Provinciales): Ejecucion presupuestaria provisoria, consolidado Administracion Publica No Financiera, II trimestre 2026 (January-June 2026, millions of pesos, by province), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 071e891773b5…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Necesidades Basicas Insatisfechas (NBI): households and people with unmet basic needs by province, censuses 1980-2022 (Cuadros 1-5), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 7b03432b63f7…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Incidencia de la pobreza y la indigencia en 31 aglomerados urbanos, primer semestre de 2026: Cuadros 4.1-4.4 (poverty and indigence by urban area, with coefficients of variation, and the series from the second half of 2016), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d6fe78610628…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Censo 2022, resultados definitivos: Cuadro 1, population in private dwellings by health coverage and jurisdiction, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 d0925617e98e…)
• Secretaria de Educacion, Ministerio de Capital Humano: Anuario Estadistico Educativo 2025 (Relevamiento Anual 2025): tables 2.1.3, 2.3.3, 2.3.5, 2.3.8, 2.4.3, 2.4.5, 2.4.12, 2.4.20 and 5.1, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 ac96949a8c48…)
• Ministerio de Educacion de la Nacion: Anuario Estadistico Educativo 2019 (Relevamiento Anual 2019): tables 2.1.3, 2.3.3, 2.3.5, 2.4.3 and 2.4.5, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 9e3340462cf2…)
• Instituto Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (INDEC): Censo 2022, resultados definitivos: Cuadro 1, total population by jurisdiction, 2010 and 2022, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b900f4bfd517…)
• Direccion de Estadisticas e Informacion en Salud (DEIS), Ministerio de Salud de la Nacion: Boletin No. 172: Defunciones de menores de cinco anos, indicadores seleccionados, Argentina 2023: Cuadros 1, 3 and 4.1 (infant and under-five mortality by province; infant mortality 2000-2023), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 12710e22f097…)
• Direccion de Estadisticas e Informacion en Salud (DEIS), Ministerio de Salud de la Nacion: Estadisticas vitales. Informacion basica, Argentina 2023 (Serie 5, No. 67): Cuadro 1 (births, deaths, infant, maternal and perinatal mortality by province) and Cuadro 20 (selected birth indicators), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 976438c611bd…)

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