survey

How popular is Putin in Central and Eastern Europe?

Fully 43 percent of Hungarians asked in a Nézőpont survey expressed a positive view of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while 36 percent of respondents said they had a negative opinion.

The pro-government Nézőpont gauged Putin’s appreciation in 12 central European countries in November and December last year, and concluded from the results that the Russian president is a divisive politician.

According to the pollster,

Hungarians have a “pragmatic” view of the Russian president.

Putin is most popular with Serbs (77pc), while respondents in Poland (10pc) indicated the most negative views about him.

The poll found that Putin was also popular in Bulgaria (60pc), North Macedonia (55pc) and Montenegro (57pc).

The Russian president was less popular with Czechs (25pc), and Romanians (31pc).

Slovenia (34pc), Croatia (37pc) and Austria (21pc) were in the same “pragmatic” category as Hungary.

Orbán in Moscow:

February 1, 2022

Big majority rejects spread of ‘sexual propaganda’ among children

A large majority of Hungarians reject the idea of “promoting” gender reassignment treatments and LGTBQ orientations among children, according to a survey by the pro-government Századvég think tank.

The statment noted that a national referendum on child protection will be held on April 3 on the same day as the general election.

Fully 65 percent of respondents said they would definitely take part in the referendum, while 16 percent said they were likely to do so, regardless of whether they cast their ballots in the general elections, the think tank said.

The survey said,

a social consensus had emerged on rejecting activities that promote “adult sexual orientation and gender change” among young children.

Fully 73 percent of respondents opposed teaching children about sexual orientation in schools without parental consent, the survey found, while 86 percent objected to providing information about gender reassignment treatments.

Also, 84 percent objected to unrestricted access to sexual content “affecting their development” in various media.

The referendum sponsored by the government puts the following questions:

“Do you support teaching children about sexual orientation in public education without parental consent?”; “Do you support the promotion of gender reassignment treatments among children?”; “Do you support the unrestricted presentation of content about sex in the media that affects the development of children?”; “Do you support the presentation of media content concerning gender reassignment to children?”

read more news about Child protection referendum in Hungary

Read also Orbán: Brussels ruled by “dogmatic market ideologies rather than common sense”

February 1, 2022

Which country is the best place to die? – Hungary fares better than expected

Unfortunately, it is a sad reality, but every person on earth will someday pass away. How people spend their last days and how they die are important questions, though.

To find out which countries provide good end-of-life, aka palliative care, Eric Finkelstein and his team of researchers took on the mantle of collecting data on the matter and creating a grading system of countries based on the quality of their palliative care. A suggestion of sorts of where it is the most peaceful or easy for people to pass away.

Bigthink.com interpreted their findings and published an article on the list of 81 countries.

Their method

Eric Finkelstein and his researchers first needed to establish what criteria to consider when creating the ranking. In order to do this, they systematically analysed 309 articles to identify the indicators of good palliative care.

Using the results of their detailed review, they determined 13 overall indicators on which they could build their ranking. They include:

the places where healthcare providers treated patients were clean, safe, and comfortable;
the patient was able to be cared for and die at their place of choice;
healthcare providers provided appropriate levels and quality of life-extending treatments;
healthcare professionals supported patient’s spiritual, religious, and cultural needs;
care was well-coordinated across different healthcare providers;
healthcare providers controlled pain and discomfort to the patient’s desired levels;
healthcare providers helped the patient cope emotionally.

According to Bigthink, while the indicators were established, further research was needed to establish how these indicators compared to each other, which ones were more important than others.

The site writes that the team of researchers surveyed 1,250 caregivers from different countries who have cared for someone who had since passed away. According to their answers, this is how the indicators rank:

Palliative care indicators — Relative importance for each indicator. Note: error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals.
Source: Finkelstein et al. / Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

The ranking

According to Hamuésgyémánt, to establish the ranking, the researchers asked hundreds of experts from 161 countries to establish the rating.

The experts had to be 1) a representative of the country’s national hospice or palliative care association or a similar national professional association, 2) healthcare providers involved in end-of-life treatment, or 3) a government employee with academic knowledge on the matter.

At least two surveyed experts needed to answer from a specific country to qualify them for the ranking.

Palliative care Ranking — Rankings of countries (and Hong Kong and Taiwan) based on input from country experts
Source: Finkelstein et al. / Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

In the end, 81 countries made the list representing 81% of the world’s population.

Hungary finished 25th on the ranking,

and while many European countries fared better, Hungary was still found to have better palliative care than Spain, Denmark, Romania, the US, and it clearly surpassed Greece, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine with the awarded points.

You can find the full study at the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, or by clicking HERE.

Read alsoThis is why Hungarian Olympic champion Csollány died from COVID

January 31, 2022

Transparency International: Hungary is the second most corrupt EU country

Transparency International published its corruption report.

Hungary is the second most corrupt country in the European Union, according to the recently published corruption report of Transparency International.” The international organisation calculates the Corruption Perceptions Index of countries every year using 13 different surveys. States are scored on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 indicating the least corruption and 0 the highest.” – writes 444.

In 2021, Hungary scored 43 points on the list. In the EU, only Bulgaria performed worse with 42 points. Out of 180 countries, Hungary is number 73 on the list, while Bulgaria is at place 78. This is the lowest score that Hungary has ever gotten.

Denmark, Finland and New Zealand lead the global list with 88 points, and Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany are also in the top 10. South Sudan is the most corrupt country, according to the list.

This was not the first time that Hungary was viewed in a negative light by an international organisation.

As we formerly wrote, Human Rights Watch harshly criticised the country. The organization expressed concerns about the LGBTQ community’s situation, the hardships independent media faces, negative discrimination against gypsies, the fact that acquiring a refugee status is almost impossible in the country, the Pegasus spyware, issues in the healthcare system, educational and workplace discrimination, and defamation campaigns against human rights defenders. They also condemned that regulatory governance has been still in place due to the prolongation of the crisis

Bernadett Szél, an independent member of the parliament also expressed how difficult it has become to get access to public interest data. “As an independent member of the parliament, recently we have spent more time at court, than in the Hungarian Parliament. We see that the restraining or delayed transfer of public interest data is making it almost impossible to inspect the politics of the government.” – the politician explained.

Read alsoHungary and Croatia celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations

January 28, 2022

Hungary suffered a brutal rental price rise last year!

A recently published analysis shows that rental prices climbed 13 pc in Hungary in 2021.

According to hvg.hu, the national rate is 13.1 pc, while this number is 12.7 pc in Budapest. That was the price rise between 2020 December and 2021 December. Compared to November, the increase was 0.4 pc in the capital and 0.6 pc in Hungary. Furthermore, the news website said that the number of real estates offered for rent increased in Budapest and decreased in the other major cities.

Compater to 2015 December, rental prices were 43.6 pc higher in 2021 December – László Balogh, an expert of ingatlan.hu, said. However, that is still not a record since rental fees were higher in 2020 January. He added that rental prices would ascend to pre-pandemic levels in the next few months.

Read also: Hungarian videogame brings the ’40s Budapest back to life

The 5th district of Budapest is the most expensive, with a 50 pc rise between 2021 January and 2022 January. That is a historical record. Meanwhile, the 23rd district is the cheapest with only a 29 pc increase. Among the cities, Székesfehérvár is the most expensive, where rental prices climbed up by 17 pc.

Origo.hu says that rental prices were lowest last January, but they have been increasing ever since.

Read alsoHungary broke EU record in real estate price rise!

January 26, 2022

Are Hungarians against the vaccine? New survey reveals

A new survey shows what percentage of the population would be okay with mandatory vaccination.

In Hungary, there are 6 million 342 thousand people who got at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. 6.1 million people received two jabs, and 3.5 million got a third, booster vaccine out of the total number. – writes napi.hu. The portal published the results of a survey that Pulzus-kutató conducted. The figures show how many Hungarians are in favour of mandatory vaccination and how many refuse it.

In November, 44% were against mandatory vaccination. Now, 59% of people refuse the idea of mandatory vaccination. Members of the older generation, individuals with a college degree, and Budapest residents are mostly the ones who would be in favour of mandatory vaccination. The younger generation and residents of county seats are the most against it.

Read alsoThese Hungarian employers made vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory for their workers

54% of Budapest residents who vote are in favor of making vaccines compulsory. As opposed to this, only 35% of residents of county seats are in favour of it. 63% of settlement residents, 61% of people living in cities, and 46% of Budapest locals are against mandatory jabs. Only 27% of people aged 18-39 years old would make vaccination obligatory, 47% of middle-aged people would support the same idea, and 54% of people above the age of 60 are in favour of mandatory jabs. 52% of graduates would introduce mandatory immunisation.

While many people are still against taking the vaccine, parties organised with the aim to get the virus are an opportunity considered by some people in various countries. Doctors, however, say it should not be an option.

Emergency doctor Gábor Zacher told RTL that coronavirus is neither a joke nor a game. According to him, a so-called Omicron party is like Russian roulette. He says that people cannot know what post-covid health issues the infected people may have to deal with or how the organs change because of the virus. He has not heard of COVID-19 parties in Hungary, but he warns people against trying to intentionally get the virus.

This is in accordance with the messages that most doctors are trying to convey: vaccinated or not, people should take the virus seriously. Some people get through the illness with mild symptoms, while others end up in hospitals or worse.

Read alsoCrazy things people do for a fake vaccine certificate

January 26, 2022

Government-close pollster: opposition PM candidate’s popularity falling

The popularity of the opposition’s prime ministerial candidate, Péter Márki-Zay, was at 33 percent in January, down by 3 percentage points since December and 9 percentage points since his nomination in October 2021, a survey published by the Századvéd Foundation on Friday shows.

According to the January phone survey of 1,000 adults, 42 percent of respondents living in Budapest expressed positive opinions of Márki-Zay, while 52 percent said they “do not like him”, the pollster said.

The opposition’s candidate who is also mayor of Hódmezővásárhely, in southeast Hungary, was popular with 35 percent of respondents in county seats and 32 percent of those living in smaller towns, while he was unpopular with 56 and 61 percent of voters in those localities, respectively, Századvéd said.

In villages, 26 percent of respondents approved and 65 percent disapproved of Márki-Zay, Századvéd said.

Read also: ‘EU leftists, Soros network’ to interfere with Hungary election?

Századvéd attributed Márki-Zay’s waning popularity to conflicts between the candidate and the leftist alliance supporting him. “Setting up an opposition election lists has proven to be more challenging than originally anticipated,” it said.

Márki-Zay has also slammed highly popular government measures such as the re-introduction of the 13th month pension, utility price cuts and the cap on fuel prices, it added.

Read alsoVaccine-sceptic Brazilian president to visit PM Orbán!

January 21, 2022

Will the Omicron virus explode in Budapest?

Although the number of hospitalised patients is currently declining, experts say the virus will be with us for a long time to come. Based on foreign examples, we can see that the Omicron wave begins in densely populated areas. So it is likely that the spread of the Omicron will begin in Budapest.

Is the fifth wave of the epidemic near?

Currently, the number of covid patients treated in hospital is decreasing in Hungary, writes napi.hu. The fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic may be declining, but it will stay with us for a long time. According to a Pulse Researcher survey,

most Hungarians think that the fifth wave will arrive in the next few months.

69 per cent of respondents believe the new wave will arrive in the spring of 2022 at the latest. Only 7 per cent of those surveyed think that there will be no more coronavirus waves. The research surveyed 1,000 people who represent the opinions of the adult population. The results show that women are slightly more pessimistic than men.

In terms of age, a higher proportion of seniors reckon there will be a fifth wave in the spring.

According to the survey, the higher one’s level of education is, the darker that person sees the future. If we examine the place of residence, a larger proportion of the residents living in the capital and the countryside believe there will be another wave soon.

The Omicron wave can start from Budapest

The Omicron wave starts from densely populated areas. It then reaches areas with lower population density. Gábor Vattay, the head of the Department of Physics of Complex Systems at Eötvös Loránd University, prepared an analysis in this connection.

The number of cases in Budapest is constantly increasing.

Over the next few days, the fall of the Delta wave will change the indicators. After all, the decrease in the number of Delta wave cases masks the increase in Omicron cases. The data show that half of the cases in Budapest, while every fourth case nationwide, can be linked to the Omicron variant.

Examining international processes, it can be stated that the Omicron virus wave is one of the most serious in terms of case number, writes portfolio.hu. Mathematician Gergely Röst and epidemiologist Beatrix Oroszi are both members of an expert group supporting the Hungarian government’s epidemiological decisions. They believe that if the Omicron variant continues to spread at a similar rate as now, the current restrictions will not be sufficient.

January 5, 2022

Hungarians among the world’s best Duolingo language learners!

Czechs and Hungarians are among the world’s hardest-working nations in terms of learning a new language. If we take the number of single lessons completed per learner, we can say that the Czechs rank first in the world, followed by the Japanese, Belarusians, Germans and Hungarians.

According to blog.duolingo.com, their 2021 Duolingo Language Report presents the latest language trends and learner behaviors based on data from over 500 million Duolingo learners around the globe. Duolingo is the world’s most downloaded education app,

offering over 100 courses teaching 40 languages—all for free.

As a result, their data offers unique insights into what languages learners worldwide want to study and how their interests change over time and geography. In 2020, the Duolingo Language Report noted record growth of new learners who started studying a language during the pandemic, whether to keep up with schoolwork or connect with people around the world. This year’s report investigates how those patterns have evolved in 2021.

Read also: Hungarian proverbs and sayings related to winter and Christmas

Love for Asian languages continues to grow around the globe

In 2021, Asian languages—especially Japanese and Korean—attracted learners worldwide, building on the impressive growth observed in 2020.

Japanese surpassed Italian globally to become the 5th most popular language to study, and it’s the fastest-growing language in the U.S. and U.K.
Korean—holding strong at the 7th most popular language to study around the world—is the fastest-growing language in Brazil, France, Germany, India, and Mexico, and it ranks as the second-fastest growing language in Japan!
Chinese, which was the 10th most popular language to study in 2020, has overtaken Russian and Portuguese for the 8th spot worldwide. It is also one of the top 5 fastest-growing languages in Mexico and Brazil.

World interest in under-studied languages increases—again!

English, Spanish, and French remain the most popular languages to study globally.

The languages occupying the #2 spot in each country are also becoming increasingly diverse: this year, old favorites like French, Spanish, and German are joined by two new additions to this list: Finnish and Guaraní. Finnish has become the second most popular language to study in Finland, and similarly Guaraní, an indigenous language from South America, is now the #2 language studied in Paraguay, where it is an official language.

Read also: 18-year-old Hungarian high school student wins prestigious British essay competition

Family and culture drive learners to study new languages

Family and culture have become important motivators for language study, and this is especially true for learners studying Asian languages. For example, over 18% of new learners studying Japanese are motivated by culture; in contrast, only 8% of English learners, 9% of Spanish learners, and 10% of French learners in 2021 chose

culture as their primary reason for language learning.

The importance of family and culture for U.S. language learners was echoed in a recent national consumer survey Duolingo conducted in collaboration with DKC Analytics. Across all respondents, including those not currently learning a language, 65% said learning about a new culture would be their top reason for studying a new language—and culture ranked ahead of all other potential motivators.

Of those respondents who had started learning a language during the pandemic,

70% say their learning is related to family heritage, ancestry, or culture.

In fact, 94% of learners whose family language is endangered, indigenous, or otherwise under-studied said they would be interested (or very interested!) in learning that language. Data from learners on Duolingo supports this finding: when learners have access to more diverse course offerings, including less-commonly studied languages that better represent their interests, families, and communities, people are excited to start studying a language.

Language learning highlights from around the world

There’s even more to uncover in our data about how interests in languages grow and change over time. Below are some other notable findings from around the world.

Top 10 languages studied around the world (in order): English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese.
In 2021, the hardest-working countries were (in order): Czechia, Japan, Belarus, Germany, and Hungary. These are the countries that complete the most lessons per learner. This year’s ranking marks gains for Czechia and Belarus, and slight drops for Germany (the former #1) and Hungary (formerly #3).
Like the rest of the world, Brazil is excited to study Japanese and Korean: Japanese is the fastest-growing language in Brazil, and Korean is 4th—reversing the 2020 order, which had Korean ahead of Japanese. But the fastest-growing language in the country is Turkish, likely due to Brazilians’ interest in Turkish soap operas!
The fight for Australia continues: French was the most popular language to study there in 2016, ahead of #2 Spanish, but Spanish pulled ahead to #1 in 2020. This year, French is back on top.
South Africa, on the other hand, has seen its Spanish-learning population just overtake the number of French learners: while French was #1 in 2016 and 2020, Spanish is now the most popular language to learn. South African learners will be an especially interesting group to watch in the coming years, as Duolingo is launching new courses in 2022 to teach Zulu and Xhosa, two languages from South Africa. Will interest in Spanish and French decline when learners are able to study the languages of their country?
Welsh continues to be one of the fastest-growing languages in the U.K., even six years after the course was introduced. In 2020, Welsh ranked #1 among fastest-growing languages, and it made a strong showing at #2 in 2021. This year, Welsh was beat out by Japanese for the top spot, and British learners’ growing interest in these languages demonstrates what we see around the world: people are studying more Asian languages and more languages with personal significance.
In Japan, Korean has skyrocketed to become the second most popular language to study—and it wasn’t even in Japan’s top 5 last year!
Learners throughout Africa are also studying a wider variety of languages. In 2020, English and French were the #1 languages to learn in Africa, but this year five languages reached #1 across the continent: English, French, Spanish, German, and Swahili!
Irish has retained its popularity in Ireland as the #1 language to study, and it has beat out Spanish for the second year in a row.
In 2020, Japanese and Korean were on the map as the most popular languages to study in some of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and their popularity has grown: there are now more Korean learners than English learners in Mongolia, and these languages occupy both of the top spots in Bhutan, Brunei, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

Magyar Zászló Magyarország Hungarian Flag Hungary

Read alsoHow much do you know about Hungarian? – Quiz

December 10, 2021

Student satisfaction in Hungary higher than EU average

Student satisfaction in Hungary is higher than the average of the European Union, the human resources ministry said on Thursday, referring to the findings of a survey published in the bloc’s Education and Training Monitor 2021.

Hungary scored 7.12 on a scale of 1-10, while the EU average was 6.8, the ministry said in a statement.

The monitor focused on EU members’ measures taken in 2020, with special regard to the impact on education and classroom atmosphere of the coronavirus pandemic. Authors of the monitor highlighted Hungary’s encoding the importance of “physical and spiritual health development” at school, stipulations in the National Crime Prevention Strategy aimed at improving security in schools, as well as the introduction of school guards, the ministry said.

The monitor indicates that 92.9 percent of young Hungarian children attend kindergarten, including 91 percent of Roma children, the highest such ratio in central Europe,

the statement said.

Read alsoWhy do thousands of talented students leave the Hungarian education system?

December 9, 2021

Budapest is the 7th most visually-appealing city in the world

They say there is no definition of beauty, but there is a formula – the Golden Ratio, to be exact. This has been used by scientists for thousands of years to ‘calculate’ beauty. Online Mortgage Advisor used the Golden Ratio to measure the beauty of more than 2,400 buildings in over 45 cities around the world to find out which city around the world has the most beautiful architecture on average and which cities are the most popular on Instagram.

The analysis of onlinemortgageadvisor.co.uk found that Budapest is the 7th most visually-appealing city in the world – beating tourist hotspots, such as Milan, Paris, and Dubai.

How they measured this

The Golden Ratio (1:1.618) is a mathematical formula that is a set of proportions used by artists and scientists for at least 4,000 years to achieve the epitome of natural aesthetic perfection in art and design.

Using this ratio, they have given each building a “beauty score”, which is the average percentage of a city’s buildings that conform to the Golden Ratio. The higher the score, the closer a city’s buildings are, on average, to the Golden Ratio. For each city in their analysis, they

analysed the golden ratio proportions of iconic buildings and scanned Google Street View for residential streets with at least three buildings to measure their golden ratio proportions.

They measured Instagram popularity by analysing over 2 million Instagram posts that used the hashtag [name of city] + [architecture] for each city, i.e. #budapestarchitecture. They then compared the number of posts used under these hashtags to the relative size of each city in square metres to rank the popularity of each city accordingly. More details can be found HERE

Read also: A film about Old Hollywood and the extraordinary Hungarian producers who helped build it – VIDEO

Key findings;

Budapest is the 7th most objectively beautiful city in the world, scoring an impressive 75.9% match to the Golden Ratio formula.
Budapest’s most beautiful building is St. Stephen’s Basilica with a near-perfect beauty score of 96.3%.
In second and third place, with equally-impressive scores, are Fisherman’s Bastion with a beauty score of 94.6% and Vigadó Concert Hall, with a beauty score of 92.5%.
Budapest’s architecture is more popular with Instagram users than Florence, Athens and Rome.

The most beautiful buildings in Budapest

Using the golden ratio, we analysed a sample of Budapest most iconic buildings.
The top three buildings, as seen below, all gained near-perfect scores. However, the Orczy Fórum drags the city’s average down, with a beauty score of 48.2%.

Ranking	Building	Beauty Score
1	St. Stephen’s Basilica	96.3%
2	Fisherman’s Bastion	94.6%
3	Vigadó Concert Hall	92.5%
4	Hungarian State Opera	83.6%
5	Orczy Fórum	48.2%

Read also: Hungarian proverbs and sayings related to winter and Christmas

Instagram popularity

The online mortgage advisor analysed more than 2 million Instagram posts to compare the popularity of architecture in cities around the world with the relative size of each city in square metres.
There were roughly 41 Instagram posts using the hashtag #budapestarchitecture per sq km of the city, making Budapest’s architecture the 14th most popular with Instagram users.

As seen below, that means Budapest is more popular on Instagram than Florence, Athens and Rome.

Ranking	City	Country	Posts per sq km
11	New York	USA	72
12	Bordeaux	France	58
13	Vienna	Austria	53
14	Budapest	Hungary	41
15	Florence	Italy	33
16	Stockholm	Sweden	26
17	Venice	Italy	24
18	Rome	Italy	16
19	Dubai	UAE	15
20	Athens	Greece	10

Methodology

– Online Mortgage Advisor’s ranking of cities with the most beautiful buildings takes into account 450 streets and more than 2 400 buildings in 45 historic cities known for their architecture. For each city in their analysis, they analysed the Golden Section proportions of iconic buildings. They also scanned Google Street View for residential streets with at least three buildings to measure their golden ratio proportions.

– They measured how well each building fit the golden ratio by first plotting points at each corner of the building and then using software to calculate the ratio of the longest and shortest length of each building’s dimensions (longest side/shortest side). These proportions were then compared to the golden ratio (1:1.618) to see how well they matched.

– For Instagram popularity, more than 2 million Instagram posts were analysed to compare the popularity of architecture in cities around the world with the relative size of each city in square metres.

Read alsoFacebook banned a famous Hungarian tongue-twister – VIDEO

December 8, 2021

Budapest crowned as the 9th best Christmas market in Europe!

New research has crowned Budapest as the 9th best Christmas market in Europe for 2021.

Whether you’re looking for a local UK Christmas market or wanting to make a long weekend out of the festive season, Christmas isn’t Christmas until you’ve visited a festive market, and this year looks set to be bigger than ever after many cancellations in 2020.

The study

analysed Christmas markets throughout Europe

on a number of factors to calculate their Christmas Market Score and reveal the best Christmas markets in Europe.

You can view the full list of Christmas markets here: https://www.christmastreeworld.co.uk/best-christmas-markets/

Read also: Budapest’s Christmas market is third among the most popular on Instagram!

Europe’s Top 10 Best Christmas Markets

Rank	Christmas Market	Country	Number of days	Average nightly price of a 3* hotel	Number of Instagram mentions	Christmas Market Score/10
1	Edinburgh	United Kingdom	54	£84	40,866	8.14
2	Manchester	United Kingdom	44	£62	7,773	6.86
3	Prague	Czech Republic	36	£41	6,398	6.33
4	Birmingham	United Kingdom	48	£60	12,651	6.18
5	Tallinn	Estonia	44	£49	4,090	5.88
6	Vienna	Austria	36	£64	13,932	5.85
7	Strasbourg	France	41	£70	16,022	5.79
8	Vilnius	Lithuania	38	£37	35	5.77
9	Budapest	Hungary	34	£49	8,814	5.76
10	London	United Kingdom	37	£71	2,833	5.75

Edinburgh is known the world over for its incredible Christmas market that has been running since 1999. Running for 54 days, the Edinburgh Christmas market is on for the longest amount of time of all markets, giving you plenty of time to purchase gifts and enjoy the festivities.

The second best Christmas market in Europe is also in the UK, in the northern city of Manchester. The popularity of the market can be seen in the vast number of people turning to Google to find out more with an annual average search volume of 74,460.

Finally, the third-best Christmas market in Europe is in Prague, Czech Republic. If you’re looking for a weekend away to enjoy the festivities, the average price of a 3-star hotel for a night in the city is just £41 while the average price of a 4-star hotel for a night is £59.

The Longest Christmas Markets:

Edinburgh, United Kingdom (54 days)
Innsbruck, Austria (50 days)
Glasgow, United Kingdom (49 days)

The Christmas Markets with the Most Affordable 3-Star Accommodation:

Vilnius, Lithuania (£37 per night)
Poznan, Poland (£40 per night)
Prague, Czech Republic (£41 per night)

The Most Instagrammable Christmas Markets:

Edinburgh, United Kingdom (40,866 mentions)
Bath, United Kingdom (28,635 mentions)
Strasbourg, France (16,022 mentions)

The Most Popular Christmas Markets According to Google:

Manchester, United Kingdom (74,460 searches)
Edinburgh, United Kingdom (70,100 searches)
York, United Kingdom (63,320 searches)

To view the full research please click HERE.

Read alsoWelcome Advent! 5 amazing winter programs in Budapest! – PHOTOS

December 8, 2021

Budapest among the best cities to live in as an expat

The Expat City Ranking 2021 reveals the best and worst cities for expats around the world including Budapest. Based on the results, out of 57 cities in the Expat City Ranking 2021, Budapest ranks 32nd.

Main results:

• Kuala Lumpur (1st), Málaga, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Prague, Mexico City, Basel,
and Madrid (10th) are the top 10 cities for expats to live in 2021.• On the other hand, expats consider Rome (57th), Milan, Johannesburg, Istanbul, Tokyo, Cairo, Paris,
Maastricht, Moscow, and New York (48th) the world’s worst cities to live in.

Budapest ranks 32nd out of 57 in the Expat City Ranking 2021 by InterNations, the world’s largest expat community with over 4 million members. Expats vote the city among the global top 10 for the local cost of living, as well as finance and housing. However, the quality of life and working life receive only mediocre results, and expats also

struggle with getting settled in Budapest.

The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations, which is one of the most extensive surveys about living and working abroad, with 12,420 respondents in 2021. This year, 57 cities around the globe are analyzed in the survey, which offers in-depth information about five areas of expat life:

Quality of Urban Living,
Getting Settled,
Urban Work Life,
Finance & Housing, and
Local Cost of Living.

Here is when you can catch a light tram in Budapest! – PHOTOS

Together, the first four topics make up the Expat City Ranking, which reveals the best and worst cities for expats to live in. Budapest ranks 32nd out of 57 in the Expat City Ranking 2021 but lands in the top 10 of the Local Cost of Living (6th) and Finance & Housing (9th) Indices. Over two in three expats (68%) are satisfied with the cost of living in Budapest (vs. 48% globally), and 80% say that their disposable household income is enough or more than enough to cover their expenses (vs. 77% globally). Housing is not just affordable (57% vs. 42% globally) but also easy to find (70% vs. 60% globally).

While Budapest lands in an average 35th place

in the Quality of Urban Living Index, it only ranks 51st in the Health & Environment Subcategory. “Healthcare services are weak, and emergency healthcare is especially poor,” notes a British expat. In fact, 35% are unhappy with the quality of medical care (vs. 14% globally), and 21% rate the availability of healthcare negatively (vs. 11% globally). The city also
receives below-average results in the Urban Work Life Index (39th), where expats are particularly unhappy with the state of the local economy (32% vs. 19% globally). On the other hand, job security (65% vs. 61% globally) and local career opportunities (50% vs. 45% globally) are rated positively. Overall,

73% are satisfied with their job in general, compared to 68% globally.

However, Budapest performs poorly in the Getting Settled Index (45th), and expats consider
Hungarian the hardest local language to learn. Close to nine in ten (86%) find this difficult (vs. 42%
globally), 56% even very much so (vs. 16% globally). “It is a language that takes years to be able to speak
at an elementary level,” shares a Venezuelan expat. Despite this, expats find it easy to make new friends
(51% vs. 48% globally) and feel quite at home in Budapest (66% vs. 65% globally).

Winter Food Fest – New street food festival in Budapest!

About the Expat City Ranking 2021

The Expat City Ranking is based on the annual Expat Insider survey by InterNations. For the survey, InterNations asked 12,420 expats representing 174 nationalities and living in 186 countries or territories to provide information on various aspects of expat life, as well as their gender, age, and nationality. In addition to their satisfaction with life in their host country, respondents were also invited to share their opinions on the city they are currently living in.

Participants were asked to rate more than 25 different aspects of urban life abroad on a scale of one to seven. The rating process emphasized the respondents’ personal satisfaction with these aspects, considering both emotional topics and more factual aspects with equal weight. The respondents’ ratings of the individual factors were then bundled in various combinations for a total of 13 subcategories, and their mean values were used to draw up four topical indices: Quality of Urban Living, Getting Settled, Urban Work Life, and Finance & Housing. These were further averaged in order to rank all cities worldwide that had the required number of participants for the minimum sample size. (The survey also includes a Local Cost of Living Index, which does, however, not factor into the overall ranking to avoid overrepresenting financial aspects.) In 2021, the top 10 cities for expats are Kuala Lumpur (1st), Málaga, Dubai, Sydney, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Prague, Mexico City, Basel, and Madrid (10th).

For a city to be featured in the Expat City Ranking 2021, a sample size of at least 50 survey participants
per city was required. In total, 57 cities met this requirement.

About InterNations

With more than 4 million members in 420 cities around the world, InterNations is the largest global community and a source of information for people who live and work abroad. InterNations offers global and local networking and socializing, both online and face to face. At around 6,000 events and activities per month, expatriates have the opportunity to meet other global minds. Online services include discussion forums and helpful articles with personal expat experiences, tips, and information about life abroad. Membership is by approval only to ensure we remain a community of trust. InterNations is part of the NEW WORK SE, a group of brands that offer products and services for a better working life.

bkk metro budapest m3 hungary photo kató alpár

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December 2, 2021

Hungary has the 9th most accessible property ladder in the world!

New research has revealed Hungary has the 9th most accessible property ladder in the world. The study conducted by Investing Reviews analysed several different factors, including average wages, average property prices, and the cost of utilities to reveal the most and least affordable countries for first-time buyers.

Below you can read the relevant findings of the study.

According to data from the ONS, UK house prices have risen by a huge 10% in the year to May 2021. This sharp rise in prices is welcome news to property owners, who can enjoy the additional spending power and financial security that comes with this price inflation.

However, those looking to find their first step on the property ladder are understandably viewing this increase with dismay. In just a few generations, owning your own home has gone from an easily achievable aim that can be attained with a couple of years of moderate saving, to a dream that is simply out of reach for many.

Number of homeowners record-breaking in Hungary

It’s true that there are now many more ways of saving than previous generations had access to, such as popular Lifetime ISAs which are specifically designed to help young people save for a deposit, but with house prices rising much faster than wages, younger generations are understandably worried.

The UK housing market is certainly a tough place for prospective homeowners at the moment, but is this pattern repeated elsewhere? In fact, it seems that 2021 has seen house prices rise in many countries all over the world, with only 3 of 40 OECD countries seeing a fall in property values.

With this in mind, we wanted to find out just how tough it is to get on the property ladder for prospective homeowners in different parts of the world. Having analysed several different factors, from the average wages to average property prices, and even the cost of utilities, we’ve found the most and least affordable countries for people to buy their first home. These factors have all been combined into a single Property Affordability Score, which we’ve used to rank the countries from the most affordable to the least.

Here is where you can buy cheap properties near Budapest

These are the best countries for first-time buyers to find an affordable home and get on the property ladder. They have been ranked according to their overall Property Affordability Score, with 1 being the most affordable and 50 being the least.

The top 10 countries with the most accessible property ladder:

Rank	Country	Average Utility Costs	Average apartment price per square foot	Average price for a 495 square foot apartment	Average Annual Salary (After Tax)	House Price as % of Salary	Property Affordability Score
1	India	$39	$86	$42,984	$5,209	825%	9.33
2	Turkey	$61	$67	$33,123	$5,029	658%	9.29
3	Bulgaria	$109	$98	$49,167	$7,698	639%	8.88
4	Mexico	$53	$105	$52,030	$6,256	831%	8.77
5	Romania	$113	$128	$63,837	$8,134	785%	8.72
6	Brazil	$69	$112	$55,833	$4,572	1221%	8.51
7	Russia	$104	$174	$86,272	$7,349	1174%	8.42
8	Colombia	$61	$97	$48,478	$3,659	1325%	8.40
9	Lithuania	$148	$207	$102,672	$12,868	798%	8.06
9	Hungary	$159	$174	$85,958	$10,256	838%	8.06

November 30, 2021

Shocking! Here is how much Hungarians spend on prostitution

The Hungarian prostitution market reached 326.5 million EUR last year, which is 114.6 billion HUF. That means 0.5 pc of the altogether spending of the Hungarians. If we calculate with the 9.9 million Hungarians currently living in the country, from the babies to the elderly, everybody spent 33 EUR in 2020 on prostitutes.

Luxembourg and Hungary on top of prostitution list

According to penzcentrum.hu, there are only a few countries in Europe having any data on how much money their citizens spend on prostitution. Hungary is among them. Based on the latest statistics of the Eurostat, Hungarian households spent 0.5 pc of their expenditures on prostitutes. And those expenditures include everything from housing to utilities, from food to fuel and health to education.

This 0.5 pc is only higher in Luxembourg, where the households spend one pc of their expenditures on this service.

Interestingly, there are only a few countries publishing how much money their citizens spend on prostitutes. However, there are many sharing data about how much people spend on prostitution and other services like cosmetics, massage, or nail parlour.

15-year-old girl beaten after refusing to become a prostitute

In this respect, Bosnia and Herzegovina (4.8 pc) is the unquestionable gold medalist, followed by Luxembourg (4.3 pc) and Belgium (2.6 pc). Then comes Lithuania (2.4 pc) and Italy (2.2 pc). Hungary (0.9 pc) is “only” in the last third of the list between Austria (1.1 pc) and Sweden (0.8 pc) – nlc.hu said.

How did the coronavirus impact the “sector”?

Penzcentrum.hu analysed

the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on the prostitution market, too.

They did not find a significant decrease in Europe. However, in Hungary, the citizens spent 0.8 pc of their household expenditures on prostitutes in 2019. That fell to 0.5 pc by 2020.

In 2019, citizens spent 600.1 million EUR on prostitution, which decreased to 326.5 million EUR by 2020.

The Hungarian business website added that these were only the official statistics regarding the sector. Since much of this “business” is done in the grey and black zone, it is almost impossible to calculate the exact amount of money changing hands in the sector.

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November 30, 2021

Here are some stealing habits from Hungarian hotels

Due to the epidemic, fewer people stayed in Hungarian hotels. However, those who come are often also a problem for hotels. A recent survey shows what and how often guests steal from Hungarian hotels.

Theft at Hungarian accommodations

A recent study looked at what and how often guests have stolen from accommodations in Hungary over the past year and a half. 21 accommodations conducted the survey, 43 per cent apartments and 38 per cent guest houses. In addition, 9 per cent of the accommodations are pension hotels, and 5 per cent are hotels, while 5 per cent are in the “other” category.

In the past year and a half, two-thirds of accommodations have reported theft.

Towels are the most popular stolen items. In two out of three accommodations, the number of towels is not the same before and after the guest leaves, writes turizmusonline.hu. It may come as a surprise, but cutlery is stolen from every second accommodation. It is not surprising that the contents of the minibar and the coffee and tea provided are consumed or taken away by the guest. However, stolen cutlery is also something accommodations have to face.

According to the reports by hotels, people take home not only the towels but also the bed linen and toiletries, and even the ashtray. There were also several examples of guests taking away television remote controls.

Special things also disappear

It is not just ordinary items that disappear from the rooms. One time, the painting was taken away by the guests while the picture frame was left at the property. Some took the chandelier home. Energy-saving light bulbs and batteries are also popular among people.

Guests even stole a WIFI router and a shower curtain.

Someone took a rack and a shelf home with them after their vacation. “Unfortunately, there are also examples of higher value theft,” said Beatrix Tepess regarding the survey. Someone took the TV out of their room, while another person took the robotic vacuum cleaner. The most extreme thefts include digging up and taking a tree and sand taken from a sandbox.

In the survey, the apartments said that they expect average damage of HUF 5,000 per room.

Therefore, most landlords do not even deal with minor thefts, as it is included in the price. In the event of stealing a more serious ideological or material value, they notify the guest. 28 per cent of accommodation providers reported that they get back the stolen items, while 16 per cent of the guests reimbursed the damage, writes nlc.hu.

November 30, 2021

dm-drogerie markt products are more expensive in Hungary than in Germany or Austria!

A very popular store is more expensive in Hungary than in Germany or Austria. This may be due to the 27% value added tax.

In other countries, the value added tax is not as high, writes HVG. In Austria, the tax is only 20%, and in Germany, the tax is only 19%. Taking this into consideration, it is not surprising that necessities are taking more money out of the customers’ pockets here than abroad.

G7 looked into this issue and checked how much certain products in DM would cost. The portal put items into an online shopping cart in Hungary, Austria, and Germany. Of course, this was done not physically being in the country but using the Hungarian and the foreign websites. They bought shower gel, soap, toothpaste, shampoo, hair conditioner, body lotion, hand cream, deodorant, lip balm, a comb, tissue paper, toilet paper, pads, and tampons. These products are a necessity for everyone, except for the women’s hygiene products, of course. That is why the prices are an important factor to consider.

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The shopping carts’ content was the same. Only the cheapest items were in it, but there were some interesting conclusions to be drawn. Out of a total of 15 products, 9 were the most expensive in Hungary.

The total price of the products does not differ much, we are talking about smaller amounts of money. However, an important factor in understanding the market is the fact that the wages differ significantly. First and foremost, the currency differs. Then, it should be considered how much money people make on average in these countries.

The median pay did not grow in Austria or Germany, while in Hungary, the median salary increased by 8 per cent.

This seems to be good news, but looking at the correlation between the median pay and prices, we can see how much people spend on various products. In Hungary, 2.07 per cent of wages are spent on the aforementioned shopping list. The percentage in Austria and Germany, however, is only 0.52 per cent.

The price difference is bad news for women especially. Those who do not make much money could feel the difference caused by the value added tax. In Hungary, the tax is 27 per cent, while in Austria, it is 20 per cent, and it is 19 per cent in Germany.

Female hygiene products, however, are even cheaper abroad. In Austria, only 10 per cent tax is added to these necessities. In Germany, only 7 per cent tax is added to the products. This results in Germany collecting half the tax that Hungary puts on a standard shopping cart of a Hungarian woman.

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November 25, 2021

Survey shows that it is still not worth becoming a parent in Hungary

With recent studies from Biomed Central and the Institute for Social Policy revealing that appropriate parental leave is pivotal for the well-being of mothers, fathers and children, countries across the globe are having their parental leave laws called into question. The duration and the percentage of wages remunerated during maternity and paternity leave are evidently vital for a family’s opportunity to overcome what can be an incredibly challenging period.

Curious to uncover more on the parental leave quality across Europe, Reboot Digital PR sought to determine the best European country for new parents. After analysing the length, wage percentages and equal distribution of both maternity and paternity leave, they can now reveal all!

The Results

Rank	Country	Maternity Leave Days Paid at 100%	Paternity Leave Days Paid at 100%	Days of Shared Parental Leave Paid at 100%
1	Sweden	216	216	0
2	Iceland	120	120	48
3	Finland	112	112	28
4	Spain	80	80	80
5	Bulgaria	41	14	329
6	Poland	70	44	98
7	Germany	40	0	281
8	Romania	111	15	621
9	Lithuania	98	23	311
10	Slovenia	105	30	260
11	Austria	80	6	292
12	Norway	75	10	245
13	Denmark	63	7	112
14	Croatia	98	0	200
15	Hungary	84	5	142

Reboot Digital PR can reveal Sweden is the best European country to become a new parent, offering a whopping 216 days of fully paid maternity and paternity leave, with 240 days total. This means Sweden also boasts the most days of guaranteed paid paternity leave in Europe, 55% more than Iceland (120 days) in 2nd place.

However, Iceland manages to pinch the silver medal by offering an additional 48 days of shared parental leave alongside 120 days of fully paid leave for both parents. With 32 weeks of maternity leave, resulting in 160 total days, Iceland’s given days are the 6th highest in Europe.

PM Orbán: Government policy geared towards supporting, protecting families

Finland takes third place with 112 fully paid days for both parents, and an additional 28 days of shared parental leave, while Spain places fourth boasting 80 days of fully paid leave for mothers and fathers and 80 days more in shared parental leave. This makes Spain the last country on the list to assign equal care to both new parents.

Reboot Digital PR can reveal that on average in Europe, fathers receive 76% less paid leave than mothers, with 26 days paternity leave compared to 110 days maternity leave.

The Top Five European countries to become a mother, by days of fully paid leave.

Latvia – 448 days
United Kingdom – 234 days
Sweden – 216 days
Italy – 150 days
Luxembourg – 140 days

The Top Five European countries to become a father, by days of fully paid leave.

Sweden – 216 days
Iceland – 120 days
Finland – 112 days
Spain – 80 days
Poland – 44 days

You can find the full data HERE.

Reboot Digital PR’s co-founder and managing director Naomi Aharony has provided a comment on the importance of fair parental leave, and an employer’s role in maintaining new parents’ well-being:

“Parental leave is essential in helping to build a child’s social and psychological development. For employers, the benefits are also important as evidence indicates it helps promote staff well-being and productivity which in turn helps with staff retention rates. The EU has adopted promising new directives over the last few years to tackle the work-life balance for parents but there is still a way to go before equality for parents is fully achieved.”

Methodology

Reboot Digital PR sought to discover which European country was most beneficial for becoming a new parent and raising a family.
All European countries with the necessary information available were selected as the sample of this study, meaning 30 countries were analysed.
An index was created considering the following factors in each country:

The length of maternity leave.
The percentage of regular wages paid during maternity leave.
The length of paternity leave.
The percentage of regular wages paid during paternity leave.

Maternity leave length and pay percentages statistics for each country were collected from World Population Review, OECD.org and ec.europa.eu.
Data on paternity leave length and pay percentages for each country were sourced from Eurodev.com, OECD.org and Papayaglobal.com
Additional information on parenthood reforms and gender gaps were collected from Worldbank.org, OECD.org and the Global Gender Gap Report.
Several countries were given additional consideration as they each enforce further parental leave laws depending on context and circumstance. The list of these considerations can be found here.
Subsequently, data was pre-processed to obtain the days of paid paternity and maternity leave, since countries remunerate employees at a different rate during this period. The output was used to calculate the actual number of paid days if employees were receiving 100% of the wage.
Using the actual number of paid days, a combined score for ‘gender gap balance’ was found by calculating the variation between maternity and paternity leave payments for each country sampled.
Countries were then sorted by gender gap balance (from 0% to 100%) in order to find the best European country for new parents. Countries that have a gender gap balance closer to 0% were considered the most ‘equal,’ whilst those closest to 100% had a wider margin of inequality.
Please note that the countries with the same gender gap balance were ranked by the most total actual paid days.
Data was collected on 15/11/2021 and is subject to change.

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November 25, 2021