Rising consumption, driven by job growth and lower tax rates, has been one of the stable pillars of Hungary’s economic expansion, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said during the parliamentary debate concerning the bill on the execution and discharge of the state budget.
Compared to the previous expectations published in the World Economic Outlook in July, a study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the current report of October 2018 shows a 0.2 percentage points higher growth rate for this year and a 0.3 percentage points higher rate for next year. Thus the organization prognosticates that the rate of Hungary’s GDP growth may be as high as 4 percent this year.
The Hungarian food industry has been expanding steadily in recent years -- a fact proven by statistical data and the rising volume of investment in the sector. Food industry enterprises which are capable of continuously modernizing production procedures, adapting themselves to market demands and providing high-quality products for customers have also done a lot to improve Hungary’s competitiveness, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said at the beginning of October when he inaugurated a new packaging unit of turkey meat producer Gallicoop Ltd.
The unemployment rate has never been this low this time of the year in Hungary, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga stressed in his comment on the latest labour market report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH).
The volume of construction sector output continued to increase in Hungary. Unadjusted data show that in July 2018 the volume of output was up by 38 percent year-on-year – according to the latest construction sector report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH).
The latest detailed data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) reveal that in July 2018 the value of the Hungarian industrial sector’s output increased by 6.2 percent year-on-year. Data adjusted for working-day effects show growth of 3.9 percent. Thus, the sector’s performance has considerably beaten that of the EU, where output growth averaged below 1 percent in the observed period.
The tourism sector has been gaining weight within the Hungarian economy; the sector’s performance has been improving steadily since 2013. According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in 2017 the gross value added of the accommodation services and catering sector increased by 7.4 percent at constant prices, which pace of growth exceeded that of the country’s overall GDP. The latest relevant data published earlier this week show that the positive trend continued this year: in the period January-July 2018, the number of tourism nights at accommodation establishments was up by 4.3 percent and gross revenues at these facilities increased by 8.6 percent year-on-year.
According to a flash report published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) last week, in Q2 2018 the volume of investment within the national economy continued to increase: it gained 15 percent year-on-year. The altogether 13 percent increase registered in the first half of 2018 resulted in a total investment volume of HUF 3113bn in the observed period. Investment was higher across almost the entire Hungarian economy.
The volume of sales in the retail sector has been rising for the fifth consecutive year. The main factors behind the positive trend were growing domestic purchasing power, rising real earnings and Government measures which had facilitated these trends.
According to the latest flash report of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), Hungary’s GDP grew by above 4 percent also in the second quarter of 2018. The rate of growth significantly exceeds that of the EU average.