Bad news: Hungary’s industry continues to falter

Output of Hungary’s industrial sector in August fell by an annual 5.3 percent, after dropping 2.6 percent in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Friday.

July output fell by 6.1 percent, adjusted for the number of working days. Most branches of manufacturing played a role in the decline in output, KSH said, with output of computers, electronics and optical equipment as well as of food, drinks and tobacco falling. Among the biggest branches, output of electrical equipment and automotive production grew.

Month on month, output fell by 2.4 percent based on seasonally and working day-adjusted data. In the Jan-Aug period, output dropped by 4.6 percent year on year.

Commenting on the data, Gergely Fábián, the state secretary for industrial policy and technology, said that among the biggest manufacturing branches, output of the electrical equipment segment and the automotive industry had both expanded. He said the difficult economic situation resulting from the war in Ukraine and the related sanctions were still hurting most sectors.

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“Car manufacturing simply doesn’t exist without the electric vehicle industry and high-tech battery production, and a future without it is completely inconceivable,” Fábián said. The government considers the auto and battery industries the driving sectors of Hungary’s industry, as they are expected to account for a combined 30 percent of industrial output by 2030, he said. At the same time, the government is drafting a new industry strategy with a view to making other sectors key drivers of industrial growth as well, he added.