New survey shows that Hungarians are fearfully poor compared to other EU citizens

New survey shows that Hungarians are fearfully poor compared to other EU citizens
Photo: PrtScr/Youtube

Only Romanians, Bulgarians and Greeks are poorer than Hungarians, based on a new survey published recently. That comes after the Hungarian government’s many success statements concerning beating inflation, restarting Hungary’s economy or attracting foreign investments to Hungary. The survey says that financial inequalities are low in Hungarym but almost every Hungarian is much poorer than the average European.

Despite urban legends, income differences in Hungary are not significant: the Hungarian society is poor. That is what Egyensúly Intézet (Balance Institute) said based on their latest survey.

According to 24.hu, 2023 was a catastrophic year for Hungary because of the record-high inflation, the fall in consumption and the technical recession of the Hungarian economy. Even so, government-close media outlets regularly wrote about successes and victories. Márton Nagy, Hungary’s economy minister, said that 2024 will be a happier and more successful year than 2023 was.

However, the government often talks about numbers that are in their favour. Those are inflation (which is decreasing), real wages (increasing) and the employment rate in Hungary, which is very high. Employment is so high that Hungary needs hundreds of thousands of guest workers to keep the economy alive and work in the factories and plants of Eastern investors.

But nobody talks about another crucial factor: how many Hungarians can have a comfortable life with their income. Egyensúly Intézet researched the answer, but it will not make you happy.

Could you live your life with less than EUR 650/month income?

According to their recently published poverty research, Hungarians having an income of EUR 650 per month or less can live with difficulties. Those having a monthly income between EUR 650 and 910 can have an average life. However, Hungarians need EIR 1,560 or more for to be well-off. But only very few earn that much.

Based on the survey, 3% of Hungarians do not have an income, and 47% get less than EUR 650 per month. That is 50% altogether. Another 24% can live an average life with an income between EUR 650 and 910.

Tamás Boros, the institute’s director, said income differences in Hungary are like in a Scandinavian state: not considerable. Every segment of the Hungarian society is poorer than their European counterparts. The only exceptions are Greece, Romania and Bulgaria.

For example, 25% of the people the survey asked would not be able to pay a HUF 100,000 (EUR 260) extra expenditure. 35% of the Hungarians struggle to pay utilities. 34% of people cannot eat meat or fish every second day. 25% of the Hungarian households can barely make ends meet each month, while 67% struggle doing so.

The rate of poor people in Hungary is somewhere between 1/3rd and 1/4th.

Egyensúly Institute said the Hungarian government would not start programs focusing on helping poor people because they believe the general economic growth would make everybody richer.

But data shows that despite the economic growth between 2013 and 2019, European countries could advance more than Hungary. After 2020, the crisis hit Hungarians hard, and poverty increased significantly.

Read also:

  • Shocking ranking: Hungary is one of the poorest European countries? – Read more HERE
  • Shocking! So many Hungarians can’t afford meat and fish – Details in THIS article

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