Minister of State for Economic Regulation at the Ministry for National Economy Béla Glattfelder told public news channel M1 on Friday that data from June shows that over the past year more than twenty thousand new jobs have been created in the industrial sector.
Reflecting on the latest industrial output figures, the Minister of State said that the expansion of the industrial sector is primarily due to an increase in international automobile orders. He added that Hungarian industry is highly export-oriented, products manufactured in Hungary are competitive, and there is also an increasing demand in the US market for cars produced in Hungary.
According to initial estimates by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in June 2015 industrial output grew by 11% compared to the corresponding period last year, while workday-adjusted data showed an increase of 6%. Year-on-year industrial performance has shown uninterrupted improvement for 22 months. Compared to May 2015, industrial output posted a seasonally and workday-adjusted increase of 1.1%.
Mr. Glattfelder said that traditionally the automobile industry is the best-performing sector, but chemicals and machine production also strengthened in June. The increase is due to the fact that industrial actors already present in Hungary are expanding their production in Hungary, and more and more small and medium-sized entrepreneurs are linked into this production, he added.
The Minister of State explained that according to analysis by KSH, this growth is significantly supported by the improving industrial confidence index, which is “rather high” by European standards; therefore Hungarian industry’s prospects are good, and further growth can be expected.
According to Mr. Glattfelder, the Government’s goal of increasing the industry’s current 22–23% contribution to GDP to 30% by 2030 is an ambitious one, but it is achievable. Through this Hungary could become one of the most industrialised countries in the European Union, he said.
(Ministry for National Economy)
