Hungary’s economic growth is expected to slow down in the next two years which will result in rising imports to meet domestic demand. Increasing real-wage gains and record-high employment is expected to boost private consumption. Hungary’s housing sector growth is expected to decrease due to re-introduction of VAT on new buildings from 2019.
Hungary is expected to be vulnerable to financial turmoil in emerging-market economies and a hard Brexit is expected to hurt Hungary’s exports and business confidence. Tight labour market conditions are expected to raise inflation which is projected to reach 4% in 2019.
ICT, transport, travel and tourism, insurance and finance, automobiles, electronics, gas turbines, machinery, corn, vaccines and textiles are major industries of Hungary. In 2017, Agriculture industry contributed 3.9% to GDP of Hungary. Manufacturing had a share of 31.3% while services industry had a share of 64.8% of GDP in 2017.
In 2017, Services industry exports was valued at USD 26.8 billion for Hungary. Electronics export accounted for USD 22.8 billion, machinery for USD 25.7 billion, vehicles for USD 20.2 billion, chemicals for USD 16.7 billion, metals for USD 5.22 billion, minerals for USD 2.89 billion, stone for USD 1.88 billion, textiles for USD 4 billion and agriculture for USD 12.6 billion in 2017.
In World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking Hungary was ranked 52 out of 190 countries in 2019. Hungary’s ease of doing business ranking improved from 53rd position in 2018.
Hungary is a landlocked state with many neighbours – Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. It is mostly flat, with low mountains in the north. Lake Balaton, a popular tourist centre, is the largest lake in central Europe. The capital city, Budapest, was originally was two separate cities: Buda and Pest. It straddles the River Danube, is rich in history and culture and famed for its curative springs. Hungary has a single-chamber parliament or national assembly whose 386 members are elected by voters every four years.
Hungary had estimated population of 9.835 million in the year 2016 and expected to reach 9.71 million by 2022. Hungary’s unemployment rate was 4.883% of total labor force.
Hungary’s real gross domestic product (GDP) was around HUF 24897.02 billions in 2016 whereas the nominal GDP was HUF 35372.57 billions. This resulted in GDP deflator 142.076. Per capita GDP was estimated at USD 12778.29 whereas purchasing power parity (PPP) based per capita GDP was estimated to be at USD 27481.79.
In 2016, Hungary government’s revenue was HUF 16202.36 billions whereas the expenditure was HUF 16844.50 billions. This resulted Hungary government’s net lending / borrowing negative at HUF 642.145 billion in 2016 indicating that enough financial resources were not made available by the government to boost economic growth.
The current account balance for Hungary was estimated to be at USD 5.434 billions for the year 2016 and is expected to decline at a CAGR of 12.89% and reach USD 1.569 by 2022. This positive current account balance indicates the Hungary is net lender to the whole world.
*If Applicable.