Budapest came out worst in an international ranking based on tourists’ views of cleanliness. Many visitors described parts of the city as dirty or neglected, while a separate ranking suggests that the most serious waste-management problems are concentrated mainly in major cities in south Asia.
Where waste is becoming a serious urban problem
Waste becomes most visible when a city grows faster than its public services can keep up. That is what is happening in several large Asian cities: more people are living closer together, consumption is rising, and waste collection and processing systems are often struggling to cope. In these cases, rubbish is not only an eyesore. It can also affect the air, the soil and drinking water.
The CHART by Pénzcentrum data collection looked at which cities face the biggest waste problems. Here, the key question was how difficult it is for a city to collect, manage and process its waste. According to Pénzcentrum’s summary, the worst affected cities are mainly in south Asia: Lahore tops the list, while Kanpur, Delhi and Varanasi also appear near the top. Several cities in China, Africa and the Middle East also feature in the ranking.
According to the UNEP 2024 global waste management report, the amount of municipal solid waste could rise from 2.1 billion tonnes in 2023 to 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050, meaning cities around the world will have to deal with an increasingly heavy burden.
These waste-growth trends also affect Budapest. More waste is being generated in the capital as consumption increases, while tourism can also put sudden pressure on busy areas. In the European Union, municipal waste has averaged around 517 kilograms per person per year in recent years, showing that waste generation remains high in developed urban areas.
In Budapest, the public waste-management provider handles around 700,000 tonnes of municipal waste a year, while the total urban waste stream is roughly 1.8 million tonnes annually. This puts pressure on a system that has to keep adapting to changing consumption habits and periods of heavier demand.
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Tourists judged Budapest harshly on cleanliness
The Radical Storage ranking looked at tourists’ Google reviews rather than official waste data. The company used the cities in the Euromonitor Top 100 City Destinations Index as its basis, then examined reviews of ten major attractions in each city. In total, it analysed more than 70,000 English-language reviews from the past 12 months, checking how often visitors wrote positively or negatively about cleanliness.
In this ranking, Budapest finished in the worst position. According to Radical Storage, 37.9% of cleanliness-related reviews about the Hungarian capital were negative. Budapest was followed by Rome, Las Vegas, Florence and Paris. At the other end of the list, the cities perceived as the cleanest included Kraków, Sharjah, Singapore, Warsaw and Doha.
Naturally this does not mean that Budapest is objectively the dirtiest city in the world. The Radical Storage list is more about the impressions tourists formed at the most visited locations.
Why the result matters for the Hungarian capital
The issue is especially relevant because Budapest’s tourist traffic remains strong. According to the 2025 summary by KSH, tourist accommodation in Hungary recorded a record 47.2 million guest nights, 5.1% more than a year earlier. Recent figures also show clear growth in the capital: Budapest recorded a 12% increase in visitor traffic in 2025.
That means more people are using the same inner-city spaces, railway stations, underpasses and tourist routes. As a result, rubbish, worn-down public areas and neglected corners become much more visible.
For Budapest, the challenge is not only to remain an attractive destination, but also to manage the pressure that comes with popularity. Visitors may come for the Danube, the baths, the architecture and the nightlife, but if the busiest parts of the city feel dirty, that can easily become the memory they take home.
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Featured image: depositphotos.com
