Hungarian economy shows disappointing latest data

Hungary’s trade balance in June posted a surplus of 1.1 billion euros, deteriorating by 411 million euros from the previous year.

KSH said exports dropped by an annual 9.9 percent to 12.3 billion euros, while imports slipped by 7.8 percent to 11.1 billion euros.

In volume terms, exports fell by an annual 8.1 percent, and imports by 5.2 percent.

Month on month, export volume was down a seasonally and working-day adjusted 2.4 percent, while imports were up 4.7 percent.

Compared to a year earlier:

According to calendar-adjusted data, the volume of export decreased by 1.4%, that of import improved by 1.3%.

The balance of the external trade in goods deteriorated by EUR 411 million. (The balance showed a EUR 28 million higher surplus than the one published in the first estimate.)

The HUF price level of the external trade in goods increased by 4.3% in exports and by 3.5% in imports, compared to the same month of the previous year. The terms of trade improved by 0.8%. The HUF exchange rate depreciated by 6.4% against the EUR and by 7.2% against the US dollar.

The export volume of machinery and transport equipment decreased by 15%, their import declined by 8.4%. Both the export and import volume of the commodity group of electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances, n.e.s. decreased sharply. The export volume of the commodity group of road vehicles declined by nearly one-tenth, its import volume fell by nearly one-fifth compared to the base period. The export volume of the commodity group telecommunication and sound recording and reproducing apparatus decreased by more than one-tenth, while its import volume rose by nearly one-tenth, year-on-year. The turnover of the power generating machinery and equipment commodity group decreased in both trade directions equally by nearly one-fifth compared to the same period of the previous year’s level. The aggregate commodity group of machinery and transport equipment contributed to the overall volume decrease in total turnover by 9.0 percentage points on the export side and by 3.9 percentage points on the import one.

The export volume of manufactured goods became 1.7% lower, while their import volume decreased by 4.2%. The volume lesseningwas driven by professional, scientific and controlling instruments and apparatus, n.e.s. on the export side, and by chemical materials and products, n.e.s. on the import one. The aggregate commodity group of manufactured goods intensified the overall volume decrease in export by 0.5 percentage points, and in import by 1.6 percentage points.

The export volume of fuels and electric energy increased by 44%, their import volume was 5.3% higher than one year earlier. The turnover growth in both export and import can be explained by the significant increase in the volume of electrical energy. The turnover growth in fuels and electric energy counterbalancedthe decrease of the overall export volume by 1.0 percentage point, and by 0.4 percentage points the import one.

The export volume of food, beverages and tobacco became 8.2% higher, their import volume decreased by 4.0%. The volume growth was driven by cereals and cereal preparations on the export side, and by fruit and vegetables in the decrease on the import one. The volume change realised by the aggregate commodity group slowed the total export decrease by 0.5 percentage points, and contributed to the import decrease by 0.2 percentage points.

The volume of export to the EU-27 Member States became 10% lower and that of import from there decreased by 4.0%. The balance of the external trade in goods declined by EUR 685 million, generating a surplus of EUR 1.3 billion. This group of countries accounted for 76% of exports and 72% of imports.

In the extra-EU-27 trade, the volume of export decreased by 0.2%, that of import declined by 8.3%. The balance of the external trade in goods with these countries improved by EUR 274 million, showing a deficit of EUR 143 million.

Hungarian economy in January–June 2024:

The value of exports amounted to EUR 73.3 billion (HUF 28.6 thousand billion), that of imports to EUR 65.6 billion (HUF 25.6 thousand billion).

In January–June 2024 compared to one year earlier, the volume of export decreased by 2.2%, that of import lessened by 6.4%. The balance of the external trade in goods improved by EUR 3.7 billion, the surplus was EUR 7.8 billion. The HUF price level of the external trade in goods lessened by 1.1% on the export side, and by 2.6% on the import one, compared to the same period of the previous year. The terms of trade improved by 1.5%. The HUF depreciated equally against the EUR and the US dollar, by 2.3%.

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