Income inequality down since 2010, says Orbán cabinet

Regional income inequality in Hungary has declined noticeably since 2010, a state secretary of the human resources ministry said on Thursday, citing data from the Central Statistical Office.

Bence Rétvári told MTI that

the country’s gender pay gap has also narrowed compared with the left-liberal era.

As we wrote a few days ago, World Economic Forum has published this year’s Global Gender Gap report. Out of all the 149 countries examined, Hungary finished below the global average at the 102nd place. Hungary had the worst score among all the European nations, read more HERE.

The annual per capita income has risen by over 40 percent on average in all eight of Hungary’s regions since 2010, the state secretary said. And the rate of increase has been faster in the less developed regions, which has helped bring down regional disparity, he added.

Income inequality between the capital and rural Hungary has also declined, he said, adding that the difference between the average per capita income in Budapest and the poorest Northern Great Plain region was less than 10 percent last year.

The Northern Great Plain region has seen the biggest increase in the employment rate since 2010 at 12.6 percent. The economically active population in this region has risen by 14 percent and the number of employed by 25 percent, he said.

Rétvári said the declining regional inequality has vindicated the government’s measures. While the policies of the Socialist governments before 2010 preserved income inequality levels by keeping people on welfare, the policy of creating a “labour-based society has shown a noticeable rise in living standards and a decline in inequality on a national level”, he said.