Sustaining the Hungarian government is the most expensive in Europe

 According to Eurostat, the Hungarian Orbán government is the most expensive of all EU countries. On the other hand, Hungarian healthcare receives less money year by year.

Népszava wrote that Eurostat updated the 2019 budget data of the European Union member states. This shows that the 27 states of the Union spend on average 5.8% of the country’s GDP on bureaucracy. Bureaucracy officially includes general community services. In the case of the Visegrad Four countries, the state spends only 4-5% of GDP on its own operations.

In contrast, Hungary spends 8.2% of its gross domestic product on its own government.

This was the highest of all EU countries. Finland is also at the forefront, with a ratio of 7.9 per cent. In Hungary, the amount spent on law enforcement (2.1 per cent) and national defence (1 per cent) is close to the EU average.

The Hungarian government did not explain why the operation of the state is so expensive. Moreover, no detailed information was provided in this regard. It is known that the operation of the Hungarian government in 2019 cost approximately HUF 3,300 billion. This can partly be explained by wage increases in the public sector. The operating cost of the Hungarian state has been high throughout the last decade. The record was in 2013 when 10.2 per cent of GDP went to bureaucracy. This is also interesting because, in 2010, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Fidesz campaigned to create a cheap and strong state. The latter can be decided by everyone, but the former has certainly not been achieved.

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It is noteworthy that where the state is expensive, subsidies from other sectors are declining. As a result, Hungary spends much  less than average on environmental protection, social spending, and healthcare.

The 4.5% of GDP spent on healthcare was the 3rd lowest in the EU.

Only Latvia and Italy spent less, compared to the EU average of 7%. The government has always defended itself by steadily increasing the amount spent on healthcare since 2010. This is true; however, expenditure as a proportion of GDP has been declining year by year.

Another area where the Hungarian state performs poorly is public education. Here, spending is the same as the EU average of 4.7%, but this cannot be considered a success due to the misuse of resources. In contrast, in addition to bureaucratic spending, the amount spent on economic support is also well above the average. While in the EU, 4.3 per cent of the GDP receives economic subsidies, in Hungary, this number is 7.3 per cent of the budget.

Source: Népszava