Although the next presidential election remains a full year away, the political and economic landscape in Argentina is already generating considerable anxiety among investors and financial analysts. The prospects for President Javier Milei’s potential reelection bid in October 2027 have quickly become a central source of concern for markets, particularly as the country contends with a fresh wave of unfavorable macroeconomic indicators and cooling public enthusiasm.
Against this complex and rapidly evolving backdrop, Atlas Impulse and Bloomberg have released their latest comprehensive public opinion poll on Argentina. The survey provides a detailed snapshot of the national mood, focusing acutely on the performance, popularity, and policy trajectory of Milei’s hardline libertarian administration as it attempts to steer the South American nation through a painful fiscal adjustment process.
According to the survey findings, public sentiment regarding the president remains deeply polarized, though it leans heavily toward disapproval. A total of 57.2% of respondents expressed a negative opinion of Milei, while 38.5% voiced approval of his leadership. A closer examination of the polling data reveals that while Milei has experienced a modest recovery from his worst numbers earlier in the year—when his disapproval rating peaked at a staggering 63% in April—his negative ratings remain persistently high. These figures stand in sharp contrast to the early days of his mandate throughout 2024 and the opening weeks of 2025, a period when his disapproval hovered within a much narrower band between 45% and 48%.
Despite this significant erosion of support compared to his honeymoon period in office, Milei continues to maintain a relative standing that separates him from much of the traditional Argentine political class. He remains one of the country’s best-rated political figures, a testament to both the deep fragmentation of the opposition and the enduring appeal of his anti-establishment narrative among a core segment of the electorate. In the broader political landscape captured by the survey, Milei is closely trailed or surpassed only by a handful of prominent names, including former President Cristina Kirchner, who registered a 39% positive rating, and leftist politician Myriam Bregman, who matched Milei’s positive rating while maintaining a lower overall negative rating.
Yet, while the president himself retains a core base of personal backing, broader assessments of the government as a whole have failed to show meaningful improvement. Disapproval of the administration’s collective performance rose to 54.2%, ticking up from 53% in the previous survey wave and inching dangerously close to the high watermark of 59% recorded in April. This persistent gap between personal presidential appeal and institutional governmental dissatisfaction suggests that a growing number of citizens are beginning to separate their views of Milei’s charismatic persona from the grinding daily reality of his cabinet’s policy execution.
The economic anxieties driving these unfavorable administrative ratings are starkly evident in the public’s assessment of their current financial standing. Views on the broader national economic situation were overwhelmingly negative, with 71% of respondents describing the current state of the economy as bad, compared to just 21% who characterized it as good. When the lens is narrowed from the macroeconomy to household realities, the sentiment remains equally grim: 60% of respondents reported that their personal and family financial situations were currently bad.
Dissatisfaction reaches even greater heights when examining the domestic labor market. An overwhelming 75% of respondents described the employment situation in Argentina as bad, reflecting a widespread sense of economic vulnerability and job insecurity. This pervasive pessimism aligns closely with recent hard economic data coming out of the country. Argentina’s national unemployment rate climbed to 7.9% during the second quarter of the year, marking its highest level since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021 and putting a human face on the administration’s aggressive deflationary measures.
Pessimism
Looking ahead over the next six months, the respondents surveyed by Atlas Impulse and Bloomberg revealed a pervasive sense of pessimism that cut across all three major socio-economic areas examined. When asked about their expectations for the near future, 48% of participants stated they expect their household financial situation to worsen. That grim outlook expands further when looking at the broader picture: 55% of respondents anticipate that the overall Argentine economy will deteriorate in the coming months, while an even higher 57% believe the labor market conditions will continue to decline before they improve.
A granular analysis of the poll points directly to the specific pillars of Milei’s adjustment program that are driving this widespread public discontent. Government measures that received the most severe negative assessments were overwhelmingly concentrated in areas related to fiscal austerity, specifically cuts to state benefits, subsidies, and pensions for retirees and vulnerable citizens with disabilities.
Leading the list of public grievances was the reduction in prescription drug coverage for retirees, a measure that triggered widespread outcry and received the worst rating in the entire survey, with 73% of respondents firmly disapproving of the policy change. This was followed closely by significant cuts to the operational budget of the National Disability Agency, which drew 71% disapproval.
The administration’s broader fiscal defense mechanisms also faced heavy public censure. The presidential veto of legislated pension increases, alongside the indefinite suspension of public works projects across the country, both registered 66% disapproval ratings. Meanwhile, the controversial deregulation and lifting of price controls on prepaid private health insurance plans drew 61% disapproval as citizens grappled with surging monthly healthcare costs.
However, the survey data also highlights a deep ideological divide in public opinion, demonstrating that Milei’s core policy objectives retain significant and vocal backing from substantial segments of the population who view these radical interventions as long-overdue surgery for a chronically broken state. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the government measures that received the highest level of positive assessments were primarily tied to deregulation, market opening, and the dismantling of traditional political clientelism.
The single best-rated policy was the elimination of intermediaries and organizational brokers in social welfare and assistance programs, a move that garnered 63% approval from respondents who supported removing political gatekeepers from the distribution of state aid. This was followed by the removal of foreign-exchange restrictions for individual buyers and the enforcement of the controversial anti-roadblock protocol, both of which secured 53% approval. Rounding out the administration’s policy successes in the eyes of the public were the closure and merger of various government ministries to reduce state spending, which achieved 52% approval, and the broader opening up of the national economy to foreign imports, which earned a 47% positive rating. As the country navigates this high-stakes economic transition, these divided sentiments underscore the delicate tightrope the libertarian administration must walk as it attempts to balance severe fiscal correction with the fragile patience of an exhausted electorate.
