The fuel tax emerged as the single largest contributor to real revenue growth among all Argentine taxes, posting a 91% real increase from January through August 2026 compared with the same months of 2023. Only export duties matched this trajectory with 3.9% growth, aided by recovery from the historic 2023 drought. Social security collections, by contrast, fell sharply due to formal employment losses.
Despite the revenue surge, actual road spending moved in the opposite direction. Real revenue from the fuel tax allocated specifically to road infrastructure rose 91.2% in real terms from January to August 2026 versus 2023. Yet the Dirección Nacional de Vialidad’s real accrued spending plunged 82.3% over the same comparison. Of all funds collected under the tax’s legally mandated road allocation, the DNV executed just 32.7%. Total DNV spending, including external credit resources and treasury transfers, ended up below even the theoretical sum owed from fuel tax earmarks alone.
Law 23.966 and its amendments assign approximately 28.58% of liquid fuel tax collections to the Transport Infrastructure Trust for roads, corridors and transport. Other major allocations include 28.69% to the pension system, 20.8% to general revenue-sharing, 15.07% to national housing and smaller shares to water infrastructure and public transport subsidies.
Fuel consumption fell 5.26% in the first seven months of 2026 compared with the same 2023 period, equivalent to 314 million fewer liters sold domestically. Border provinces experienced the steepest declines: Misiones led with a 32.48% drop and Formosa followed at 26.26%. The report attributed border-region collapses to domestic gasoline prices rising above neighboring countries’ levels, eliminating the historical price advantage that attracted cross-border demand.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
