Overview
- Courier imports reached a monthly record of US$118 million in April 2026 and totalled US$402 million year‑to‑date, marking interannual increases of about 136% for the month and 123% for the year.
- The surge follows policy changes since late 2024 that raised per‑package and operation limits, set a US$3,000 cap per operation, allowed up to 50 kg per package, and exempted purchases up to US$400 from import duties while only applying VAT.
- Administrative simplifications for private couriers removed a user reception registration step with ARCA and sped deliveries compared with Correo Argentino, which kept manual controls, making private courier routes faster and more attractive.
- Analysts link the boom to consumers buying from global platforms such as Shein, Temu and Amazon as real wages fell and dollar purchasing power rose, a shift that is already pressuring local manufacturing and lowering prices for shoppers.
- The rapid growth pushed courier shipments to the third most relevant eight‑digit Mercosur merchandise category in April, and it coincides with heavy production drops and the loss of about 18,333 formal jobs in the textiles, clothing, leather and footwear complex between late 2023 and the last available annual window, a trend that could signal lasting substitution of domestic goods.