According to recently published data by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), Hungary’s export and import trends remained sound in the first quarter of 2018. The external trade of goods and services sectors posted a surplus of EUR 2.1bn and EUR 2.0bn, respectively.
The number of people out of job has fallen to one-third, some 177 thousand, of the figure registered eight years ago, thanks to adequate economic and employment measures, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga said.
Raw data showed that in the first quarter of 2018 Hungary’s GDP was up by 4.4 percent year-on-year. According to data weighted and adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects, GDP grew by 4.7 percent year-on-year and by 1.2 percent month-on-month. The fact that investment activity has been strong in almost every sector of the national economy signals that the current pace of growth is highly likely to persist even after the volume of investment has hit a historic high in 2017.
According to data released by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) last week, the positive trend which had prevailed in recent years in Hungary’s tourism sector appears to have continued. The number of tourism nights by both domestic and international guests have increased dynamically compared to the figures recorded in the same period of the previous year. The number of arrivals by domestic guests has also grown visibly. When compared to similar data from V4+4 countries, Hungary’s ranking in terms of the number of tourism nights spent at accommodation establishments continues to be stable. Antal Rogán, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office and designated to be responsible for the sector in the next Orbán administration, has recently said he was aiming to increase the share of tourism within Hungary’s GDP from the current 10 percent to at least 16 percent.
The Government of Hungary has recently published the country’s Convergence Programme with an outlook for 2018-2022 and the European Commission has also released a spring forecast for 2018-2019. Both studies predict robust economic growth above the EU average for this year in Hungary.
The business sentiment survey of the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DUIHK) published on 17 April shows an even more upbeat picture than before. The fact that the share of enterprises which would once again choose Hungary as their investment destination rose to 84 percent signals that German enterprises are content with conditions in the country.
Dynamic growth within the construction sector, which began at the end of 2016, is set to continue in 2018. According to the latest data compiled by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in February 2018 output volume in the construction sector rose by 26.0 percent year-on-year. In the period January-February 2018, output was up by 33.5 percent, while data adjusted for seasonal and working day effects show an increase of 21.3 percent year-on-year. In the first two months of the year, the volume of output was some one-fifth higher than the monthly average of the year 2010.
The fact that in the period December 2017-February 2018 the number of people in employment rose by 70 000 year-on-year signals that the Hungarian economy has been growing robustly, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said, commenting on the latest job data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH). Data for the observed period show that the unemployment rate continued to decrease and the number of people in employment rose again compared to statistics from the corresponding period of the previous year.
In the first two months of the year, the composition of general government debt has improved markedly: the share of HUF-denominated debt continued to increase and that of foreign currency debt has accordingly declined. In addition, the share of securities held by residents has also increased significantly. Short-dated government securities were sold with yields still close to zero percent this year. Negative interest rates have also occurred at government auctions. Low yields, the rising share of HUF-denominated debt and the rising weight of resident bondholders in the financing of state debt are all contributing to more stable public finances.
According to the latest data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), earnings in real terms have been up for 61 consecutive months. Among the main drivers of steady growth have been public sector career models and the Government-initiated six-year wage agreement, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said, commenting on the news.