Hungary’s re-industrialization has been on track. Thanks to a favourable economic environment and Government incentives, the output of the sector has increased by some 40 percent since 2010, Minister for National Economy Mihály Varga said, commenting on data released by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH). As the Minister added, in January 2018 the volume of industrial output grew by 6.9 percent year-on-year, and thanks to recently implemented capacity expansion projects growth was expected to continue in the near future.

The sector’s expansion has been broad-based, the Minister said: growth was reported from eleven out of the altogether thirteen sub sectors, such as rubber and metal products, pharmaceuticals and wood product manufacturering, where double-digit output growth was registered. The future outlook also looks promising, he added, thanks to the growth of manufacturing sector investment last year and recently announced development projects, mainly in the automotive industry.  The Government-initiated Large Enterprise Investment Subsidy and Supplier Development Programmes as well as the 9 percent flat-rate corporate income tax are also facilitating industrial output growth, the Minister said.

In addition, the stimulating effect of the six-year wage agreement may also persuade enterprises to be more open to highly automatized and digital technologies which would concurrently boost efficiency and ease labour demand, the Minister noted.

(Ministry for National Economy)