How many people stay at home in Hungary? Budapest is doing fine, but people in the countryside are not as controlled

During an epidemic, when social distancing is highly recommended (if not obligatory), people’s mobility should change drastically. A report by Google reveals that a lot fewer people go to different places in Hungary. The highest decrease in people’s mobility is observed in Budapest and Győr-Moson-Sopron County.

About the report

Forbes noticed the Mobility changes report that was recently conducted by Google. The report shows mobility trends over the last couple of weeks. The data comes from users who opted for Location History in their Google Account. Therefore, they may or may not represent the wider population.

The report aims to help public health officials understand the responses to the social distancing guidance related to COVID-19.  

Main findings: people go out less

The numbers indicate that people’s mobility decreased quite a lot over the past few weeks.

• Data reveals that the catering industry, shopping centres, theme parks, museums, libraries, and movie theatres had 66% fewer visitors than usual.

The catering industry took the biggest hit in Budapest, where there was a 74% decrease in customers over the last 4 weeks.

• National parks, dog parks, and public gardens had a 7% drop in attendance, and even grocery stores, food markets and warehouses, farmers’ markets, speciality food shops, drug stores, and pharmacies had fewer customers than average (-43%).
• 53% fewer people use public transport and 10% more people visit their place of residence.

Photo: www.gstatic.com/

Photo: www.gstatic.com/

If we look at the different counties, most people stay at home in Budapest and Győr-Moson-Sopron County. In Budapest, 39% fewer people travel to work, while in Győr-Moson-Sopron County, 42% fewer people travel to work. On average, the other counties are not doing so great with only an approximate 25-30% decrease in people’s mobility regarding going to work.

Source: www.forbes.hu; www.gstatic.com