Page 26 - Implementation of the ITU-T International Standards for the Sustainable Management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment: On the road to a circular economy in Argentina

Implementation of the ITU-T International Standards for the Sustainable Management of
Electrical and Electronic Equipment: On the road to a circular economy in Argentina

Figure 5: Economic information of the Argentine Republic

Source: Own elaboration based on a report by INDEC 2022.

According to INDEC, Argentina's gross domestic product grew by 10.26 per cent in 2021, with
respect to the previous year, amounting to MARS 688 561 (INDEC, 2021).
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On the demand side, in 2021 there were strong increases in private consumption, 10.16 per
cent (MARS 463 658), in gross fixed capital formation, 32.90 per cent (MARS 138 091) and in
public consumption, 7.7 per cent (MARS 99 817).

Exports grew by 8.99 per cent (MARS 144 519) and imports by 21.51 per cent (MARS 166 555) .
4
However, comparing 2021 with 2019, it is noted that due to the pandemic there was a 0.50
per cent, decrease in GDP, 5.63 per cent in private consumption, 8.16 per cent in exports, and
0.04 per cent in imports.

On the other hand, gross fixed capital formation and public consumption grew by 16.84 per
cent and 5.97 per cent respectively. 5

The results of the second report of the Study on the impact of COVID-19 on households in
Greater Buenos Aires, conducted between August and October 2020 by INDEC , show clearly
6
that about three-quarters of households with children and teenagers who attended primary
and secondary school increased their screen time (TV, PC, notebook, tablet or cell phone) since
the beginning of the pandemic (excluding the time devoted to schoolwork). The ownership
of computing equipment in these households had an impact on the virtual classes taken. In
households with a PC, notebook or tablet, participation in virtual classes reached 76.9 per
cent in primary school and 75.9 per cent in secondary school. This doubles the percentages
reached in households that lacked this equipment: 37.1 per cent in primary and 39.8 per cent
in secondary school. These figures suggest the need to increase equipment consumption in
these households and replace old devices that did not allow adequate connectivity (inter alia,
cell phones with low-quality cameras, PCs without cameras, or microphones).

During this period, the study on access to, and use of, information and communication
technologies (MAUTIC), carried out within the framework of the Permanent Household Survey
(EPH) in the fourth quarter of 2020, also showed that 63.8 per cent of urban households have
access to a computer and that 90 per cent have access to the Internet. In addition, the data

3 MARS: Millions of Argentine pesos.
4 Available at: https:// www .indec .gob .ar/ uploads/ informesdeprensa/ pib _03 _229F2B413BEF .pdf.
5 Own elaboration based on INDEC’s sources, at: https:// www .indec .gob .ar/ .
6 Available at: https:// www .indec .gob .ar/ ftp/ cuadros/ sociedad/ EICOVID _segundo _informe .pdf.

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