Hungarian workers earn less than 1/3rd of Austrian counterparts
Hungarian wages are among the lowest in the European Union, with workers earning less than a third of the average Austrian salary in 2023.
Hungary’s average net wage 4th lowest in EU
According to Eurostat data cited by Bankmonitor, last year, Hungary’s average net wage was the 4th lowest in the EU. While the EU average net salary stood at EUR 28,217 per year, Hungary’s was less than half of that, at EUR 12,456. Only Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia had lower average wages.
When converted to Hungarian forints, the disparity becomes even clearer. The average EU wage in 2023 was nearly HUF 900,000 per month. The highest-paid workers were in Luxembourg, where the average monthly net salary was HUF 1.56 million. In the Netherlands, it was HUF 1.44 million, and in Ireland, HUF 1.37 million.
Austrian workers earn 3 times as much as Hungarians
Austria, a country Hungary has aspired to match for over three decades, remains significantly ahead. In 2023, the average net salary in Hungary was HUF 396,000—approximately 44% of the EU average—while Austrian workers earned over three times that amount, at HUF 1.22 million.
The standard of living also lags behind. Hungarians live at 65.2% of the EU’s average living standards. When considering purchasing power, the wage differences between EU member states are less pronounced than nominal figures suggest. The gap between the top-ranked Luxembourg and the lowest-ranked Bulgaria is more than fivefold.
In the Netherlands, the average wage’s purchasing power is less than three times that of Slovakia, which is at the bottom of the list. Hungary improved two places in the ranking compared to the previous year, now standing at 22nd. This means the average wage in Hungary is only enough to cover about two-thirds of the consumption level that an average EU citizen can afford, according to the report.
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Austrian workers also pay three times more for their gas and electric.
They also can’t go to and through parts of their own cities because they’ve been infested with hostile, violent illegal aliens.
I’ll take a lower salary but live freely and safely any day of the week.
What makes you think there are any ‘no go zones’ in Austrian towns and cities? There are not. Austria is a well run country with high levels of personal safety, neither society nor the police tolerate the sort of urban decay that might be found elsewhere in Europe. You can live freely, safely AND earn a high income (certainly compared to Hungary) in Austria. Underpinning all this is that Austria is a productive nation with high GDP per capita and a fair social settlement with its working population; salaries are negotiated via collective bargaining agreements while generations of effective management of housing stock ensures that rents are tempered and reflect real incomes. The quality and price of many groceries in Austria is significantly better than Hungary, I like to cross the border to shop, and to enjoy a better tended environment, but urban and rural. It’s not for nothing the population of working Hungarians in Austria is booming, absolutely none of them return with stories of ‘no go zones’.
I never felt unsafe in Vienna, its nothing like walking down near Orczy square at night in Budapest.
I’m also paying significantly less for my electric bill here, as you have the option to chose your electric provider. I was making my first contract when Corona broke out and I was paying a monthly fee of 40EUR for a household of 120 sqrm, now that energy prices are lower again its around 30EUR and I have a home-server always running.