More and more Hungarians decide to leave Budapest – But what about the other counties?

News can often be heard about emigration from Hungary and the number of homecomings; however, details on domestic migration often remain in the dark. Nonetheless, it is an important issue as many Hungarians decide to move about within the country, which results in an increasing number of residents in some counties while a decreasing tendency can be observed in other regions. Let’s see last year’s run of domestic migration – which are the winner counties where the population increased significantly and which can be considered ’absolute losers’ regarding this question?

Besides birth and mortality rates, and the amount of emigration and immigration, domestic migration is also an important aspect that needs to be taken into consideration. According to the data of the Hungarian Statistical Office (KSH), last year in Hungary, 280,000 people changed their permanent place of residence while 300,000 decided to modify their temporary place of residence.

In 2018, the net migration rate of the capital showed negative results. Migration loss increased to 3,100 people, supposedly as a result of the enhancement of suburbanisation.

Just like in the previous years, from a territorial aspect, only the Pest region (16,800 people), Western Transdanubia (4,800 people) and Central Transdanubia (2300 people) managed to achieve a positive migration balance. Compared to 2017, migration surplus increased significantly in Pest and Western Transdanubia; however, a growing number of emigration can be examined in the case of the Great Plain and Northern Hungary.

Among the counties, the most attractive places of residence in 2018 were Pest, Győr-Moson-Sopron, Fejér, Vas and Komárom-Esztergom counties; additionally, Veszprém county, too, where an increasing tendency of domestic migration can be observed since 2016.