Hungary’s construction sector weakened again in June, marking a second consecutive monthly decline after a sharp reversal in May. The latest figures show that the Hungarian construction industry remains highly volatile: a relatively strong spring was followed by two months of falling output, while the volume of new contracts also dropped steeply.

According to Telex, citing fresh data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), construction output in June 2026 was 1.2% lower than a year earlier based on unadjusted figures. After adjustment for working days, the annual decline reached 5%.

Compared with May, seasonally and working-day adjusted output fell by another 3.9%.

Hungarian construction industry records second monthly decline

The June figures revealed a considerable difference between the main parts of the sector.

Output in the construction of buildings decreased by 5.5% compared with June 2025, while civil engineering output – which includes projects such as roads, railways and utilities – increased by 5.6%.

Looking at construction divisions, the picture was even more uneven. Building construction fell by 22.1%, while civil engineering expanded by 28.3%. Specialised construction activities, the largest division in the industry, recorded marginal annual growth of 0.6%.

Road and railway construction was a major contributor to the stronger civil engineering result, increasing by 49.6% year-on-year, according to the KSH’s June release.

New business, however, gave a much weaker signal. The volume of new construction contracts signed in June was 41.9% below the level recorded a year earlier. New contracts for buildings fell by 16.8%, while those for civil engineering projects plunged by 58.6%.

The KSH noted that total construction output in the first six months of 2026 was 0.7% lower than in the same period of 2025.

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What happened in the previous three months?

The June decline is easier to understand when viewed alongside the previous three monthly reports.

In March, the sector appeared to be recovering. The KSH reported that construction output was 3.9% higher year-on-year according to unadjusted data and 0.5% above February on a seasonally and working-day adjusted basis. Nevertheless, output in the first quarter as a whole was still 4.2% below the corresponding period of 2025.

The improvement continued in April. According to the KSH’s April release, output rose by 2.6% from a year earlier and jumped 6.9% compared with March on a seasonally and working-day adjusted basis. Civil engineering was particularly strong, rising by 13.9% year-on-year, while the construction of buildings declined by 6.2%.

Then came a dramatic reversal in May. The KSH initially reported a 10.7% annual decline in unadjusted construction output and a 6.5% monthly fall after seasonal and working-day adjustment. Civil engineering output was reported to have fallen by 21.9% from a year earlier.

The statistical office has subsequently revised parts of the earlier monthly series in its latest dataset. However, the overall sequence remains clear: output strengthened during March and April before falling in May and declining again in June.

Hungarian automotive industry output surges 21pc in June

Output of the automotive industry, Hungary’s biggest manufacturing sector, climbed 21pc year-on-year in June, a detailed reading of data released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on Thursday shows.

The automotive segment accounted for 27pc of manufacturing output during the month, MTI said.

Output of the computer, electronics and optical equipment segment, which accounted for 15pc of manufacturing, jumped 50pc, boosted by production of peripherals.

Output of the food, drinks and tobacco products segment, making up 12pc of manufacturing, slipped 1.5pc.

Output of the electrical equipment segment, accounting for 8.3pc of manufacturing, edged up 1.8pc.

KSH confirmed that headline industrial output rose 10.1pc year-on-year in June.

Output rose 4.1pc when adjusted for the number of workdays, of which there were two more than in the base period.

In a month-on-month comparison, output edged down a seasonally- and workday-adjusted 1.4pc.

In January-June, industrial output rose 2.4pc.

Why the figures matter for foreign readers

For international readers, it is important to distinguish between the two broad categories used in Hungarian construction statistics. Building construction covers residential and non-residential buildings, while civil engineering encompasses infrastructure such as roads, railway lines and utility networks.

The latest figures therefore do not show a uniform collapse across the Hungarian construction industry. Infrastructure construction remained relatively strong in June, while building-related activity was much weaker. At the same time, the industrial data point to a very different trend in another key part of the economy: output in Hungary’s automotive industry, the country’s largest manufacturing segment, surged 21pc year-on-year and accounted for 27pc of total manufacturing output in June. Its strong performance was a major positive signal in a month when headline industrial production rose 10.1pc year-on-year, even though output slipped 1.4pc compared with May on a seasonally and workday-adjusted basis.

Taken together, the figures underline how uneven Hungary’s economic performance remains. Construction is still facing weak demand and a sharp fall in new contracts, while manufacturing – particularly the automotive and electronics industries – showed much stronger annual growth in June. The next releases from KSH will therefore be important in showing whether the weakness in construction becomes more persistent and whether the strong automotive performance can be sustained beyond a single month.

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