Every third Hungarian’s money is worth less now than a year ago
The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) recently released an experimental dataset providing a detailed picture of how earnings have changed in the first half of 2025.
Growth has slowed down
Although the figures initially seem positive, a closer look reveals that wage growth has not benefited every Hungarian equally — and many workers are still worse off in real terms than they were a year ago, according to 444.
According to the data, by the end of June the gross average salary was 9.7 per cent higher than a year earlier. Given that inflation stood at 4.6 per cent in June, this translates into a 4.8 per cent increase in real earnings.
At first glance, this appears to be encouraging; however, the pace of growth has already slowed compared with 2024, and many households are still recovering from the loss in purchasing power experienced in previous years.
The detailed breakdown shows striking disparities behind the seemingly positive averages. In the first half of the year, nearly one-third of employees saw their real earnings decrease — meaning that their pay rises failed to keep pace with inflation.
Some did benefit, some did not
Although this marks a slight improvement compared with the first quarter, it still means that roughly one in three workers has lost purchasing power.
Historical KSH data suggests this is far from a new phenomenon. Even in 2024 — a year of strong overall real wage growth — around one in five employees earned less in real terms than the previous year. In 2025, that proportion has risen by about half again, to more than 30 per cent.
At the same time, the higher end of the income scale has seen remarkable gains. Among full-time workers, roughly one in ten earned at least 25 per cent more than a year ago, while 2.7 per cent enjoyed pay rises of 50 per cent or more.
More and more Hungarian’s money worth less than before
The figures become even more striking when both gross and net earnings are examined. According to the KSH, 17.2 per cent of employees — around one in six full-time workers — took home less money in nominal terms than they did a year earlier. The majority, about 40 per cent, saw net wages increase by between 5 and 15 per cent, while 3.6 per cent earned one and a half times more than in 2024.
Public sector workers were among the hardest hit: in public administration and defence, one in four employees earned less than a year earlier. Even in education — the best-performing sector — around 7 per cent of workers experienced pay cuts.
The KSH also published a background document explaining the methodology behind its experimental statistics, following questions raised at a government press briefing about the high proportion of workers affected by declining real wages.
Although the issue has attracted political attention, the detailed data serve as a reminder that Hungarian’s wage growth remains deeply uneven — and many employees have yet to feel any improvement in their everyday finances.