We are experiencing a growing interest in investment opportunities in Hungary. Many European and overseas companies are planning to set up, expand, or even relocate their operations to us.
We present three interesting, important and recent economic data about the country, which may partly justify this interest.
GDP
After the dynamic increase of the previous years, Hungary’s GDP decreased by 5.1% in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The largest decline occurred in Q2, when the annual change was -13%. Towards the end of the year, there was already an improvement, and the second quarter of 2021 was 17.8% better than last year. With this, the performance of the Hungarian economy reached the pre-crisis level.
UNEMPLOYMENT
The problem of unemployment has gradually eased in recent years, and today we have come to find that it is an increasing challenge to recruit the right workforce. The national rate is currently 4%, which is also low in Europe.
BASE RATE
The central bank base rate is reviewed monthly by the responsible council. The Hungarian interest rate level is traditionally higher than the ECB interest rate level, but it does not matter how much. Its main goal is to keep inflation under control. This is not only related to the burden of public debt, but also determines the development and investment opportunities of companies.
The Magyar Nemzeti Bank started raising the key interest rate after a 10-year reduction cycle, which is currently 1.65%.
