Trade in Hungary

Significant boost in Hungary’s trade balance, PMI points to contraction – UPDATE

Hungarian Seaport Magyar Kikötő

The Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a second reading of data on Monday that Hungary had a 1.7 billion euro trade balance surplus in April, expanding from 1.6 billion in March.

Trade balance in Hungary

KSH says exports rose by an annual 9.2 percent to 12.5 billion euros, while imports slipped by 2.9 percent to 10.8 billion.

The volume of exports to the EU-27 Member States became 11% higher, and that of imports from there increased by 12%. The trade balance of the external trade in goods improved by EUR 16 million, generating a surplus of EUR 1.4 billion. Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 76 percent of Hungary’s exports and 75 percent of its monthly imports.

Hungary’s terms of trade improved by 1.7 percent during the period as the forint weakened 4.4 percent against the euro and 6.8 percent to the dollar.

For January-April, Hungary had a trade surplus of 5.6 billion euros. Exports fell by 3.9 percent to 49.0 billion, and imports declined by 12.3 percent to EUR 43.4 billion.

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UPDATE

Hungary PMI points to contraction in June

Hungary’s seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) stood at 49.4 points in June, down from 51.3 points in May, the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (Halpim) said on Monday.

The PMI was below the 50-point threshold that signals expansion in the manufacturing sector.

Among the PMI sub-indices, the new orders index fell but was over the 50-point mark.

The production volume index dropped and indicated stagnation.

The employment index declined and continued to show a contraction.

The delivery times index rose.

The gauge of purchased inventories decreased but was over the 50-point mark.

Orbán in talks with European business leaders

Orban in talks with European business leaders

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met with leaders of the European Round Table for Industry in his office on Tuesday as part of preparations for Hungary’s upcoming EU presidency.

Attending the talks centred on boosting the European Union’s global competitiveness — among the key goals of the Hungarian presidency — were the heads of Vodafone, BMW, Deutsche Telekom and MOL, the statement said.

Orbán hailed the input of European industry to the well-being of the continent’s people, while the company heads expressed satisfaction with Hungary’s business environment, it added.

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Exports and imports both down in Hungary – official data

food store spar inflation price hungary (2)

Hungary posted a trade surplus of 1.5 billion euros in March, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a preliminary reading of the data on Monday.

Exports fell by an annual 15 percent to 12.2 billion euros. Imports dropped by 20 percent to 10.7 billion euros.

Exports were down 4.0 percent monthly, while imports fell by 3.0 percent.

Hungary’s trade balance improved by 512 million euros.

Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 77 percent of Hungary’s exports and 72 percent of its imports during the month.

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Latest figures from the Central Statistical Office: Hungary has EUR 583 m trade surplus, factory gate prices fall

Factory gate prices in Hungary dropped by an annual 4.3 percent in February, falling for the seventh month in a row after rising for years, data released by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) on Tuesday show. Hungary has EUR 583 m trade surplus.

Factory gate prices

According to KSH, domestic sales prices fell by 5.8 percent, and export prices declined by 3.5 percent.

In a month-on-month comparison, factory gate prices increased by 0.5 percent, domestic sales prices increased by 0.7 percent, and export prices increased by 0.3 percent.

Domestic prices of the manufacturing sector, which have a 60.0 percent weight in the PPI, dropped by 2.0 percent year-on-year. Domestic energy prices, which account for 38.6 percent of PPI, fell by 14.1 percent.

Export prices of the manufacturing sector, which has an 82.9 percent weight in the PPI, increased by 0.7 percent, while energy sector export prices, with a 16.7 percent weight, dropped by 33.1 percent.

Trade surplus in January

Hungary had a 583 million euro trade surplus in January, after the balance turned negative for the first time in almost a year in December, a second reading of data released by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on Tuesday shows.

Exports fell by an annual 6.8 percent to 11.506 billion euros. Imports dropped by 14.3 percent to 10.923 billion euros.

Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 78 percent of Hungary’s exports and 69 percent of its monthly imports.

Hungary’s terms of trade improved by 3.2 percent during the period as the forint firmed 3.4 percent against the euro and 4.6 percent to the dollar.

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Europe’s lowest tax rates a big attraction for foreign firms in Hungary, says minister in Bangkok

szijjártó bongkok

On Tuesday, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in Bangkok that Hungary regards East-West cooperation as a great opportunity rather than a risk, from which many can profit.

Given the war in Ukraine and the related sanctions, Eurasian cooperation has suffered a big blow, the ministry, quoting Szijjártó, said in a statement. With the collapse of growth based on advanced Western technologies and Russian energy sources, combined with skyrocketing inflation, many countries faced difficulties, even though they were not responsible for the situation, he added.

Szijjártó also noted the Middle East conflict, which has compromised safe navigation in the Red Sea, resulting in expensive freight circumnavigation.

He said all this has negatively affected Hungary, which is among the ten most open economies in the world.

The minister referred to rising energy costs and inflation, which jumped from two percent to 27 percent, “exclusively owing to external influences.”

He said the European Union then decided to heap pressure on Hungary’s “conservative, patriotic” government by freezing Hungary’s community funding.

“But we’ve survived,” he said, adding that 2024 would be “much easier” due to falling energy prices and inflation and the partial release of EU funds.

Amid the fierce competition for investments worldwide, he noted several reasons why it was worth investing in Hungary, including the stable political system, with a government that commanded a two-thirds parliamentary majority, and significant investment incentives as well as Europe’s lowest tax rates.

Thanks to the government’s strategy of opening to the East, Hungary has turned into a major meeting point for Eastern and Western companies, he said, adding that Hungary wanted to see smooth East-West cooperation, while obstacles to trade around the world were undesirable.

“Yet when anyone in Europe says something along these lines … they are classed as a friend of the Russians, Putin’s spy, or a Kremlin propagandist,” he said.

Szijjártó said all companies operating in Hungary could do so unhindered, no matter where they came from, all long as they followed the rules.

He noted that Hungary doubled its 2022 investment record last year, and 82 percent of working capital came from the East, mostly from China and South Korea.

The minister said Hungary had become one of the world’s largest producers of electric batteries, and a large number of suppliers had come from the East, making the country a meeting point for German car manufacturers and Eastern battery-makers.

Szijjártó praised bilateral ties “based on mutual respect”, noting that the Hungarian government “does not interfere in the internal affairs of others”.

He said the Hungarian-Thai trade, worth 730 million dollars in 2023, was record-breaking, and tourism “has also doubled.” He added that

he hoped to convince AirAsia managers to launch a flight to Budapest.

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UPDATE

The minister also announced that

AirAsia could launch a direct flight between Bangkok and Budapest in the autumn, noting that in 2023, tourism figures doubled compared with the previous year, with over 10,000 tourists visiting Hungary and Thailand receiving more than 30,000 Hungarians.

Szijjártó said preparations had been made and relevant talks “will be concluded today”. “We have a good chance of there being a direct link between Bangkok and Budapest in the near future,” he said.

Concerning Hungary’s upcoming European Union presidency, Szijjártó said Hungary would make efforts to reinforce the bloc’s foreign trade relations “in view of a significant deterioration in the continent’s competitiveness in recent years.” The Hungarian presidency will “take rationality and practicality in consideration” and work to accelerate recently resumed talks with Thailand aimed at a free trade agreement, Szijjártó said.

The Hungarian government, Szijjártó said, would lend momentum to talks with Thailand aimed at investment protection, “since more and more investors come from Thailand and trade turnover is on the increase”. The Hungarian economy could benefit from the effects of a free trade and investment protection agreement, he added.

The minister assured his Thai partners of Hungary’s support for Thailand’s request to join OECD. “It is in our interest that the OECD should become stronger, while Thailand’s entry could clearly strengthen the organisation,” he said.

Noting conflicts worldwide and world organisations “seriously influenced by ideologies,” he said building relations was becoming difficult. He added, “It is refreshing to see that in remote parts of the world, there are some countries such as Thailand that pursue a rationalistic foreign policy based on mutual respect.”

“We see eye to eye that each country has a sovereign right to shape their own foreign strategy, promote their own national interests in foreign policy and resist the pressure exerted by strong players in international politics,” Szijjarto said.

Central Statistical Office published devastating data on the Hungarian economy

Hungarian forint economy

Hungary’s GDP stagnated in the fourth quarter and contracted 0.9 percent in the full year, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) confirmed in a second reading of the data on Tuesday.

In 4th quarter 2023

The volume of GDP was unchanged according to raw data and was 0.5% higher according to seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled data than in the corresponding period of the previous year. The raw volume index in the second estimate was unchanged, while the seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled index became 0.1 percentage point higher compared to the flash estimate.

Production approach

According to KSH, industry and within that manufacturing both reduced their performance by 6.4% compared to the same period of the previous year. Among manufacturing branches, the largest contributors to the decrease were the manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified and the manufacture of electrical equipment, while the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products and the repair and installation of machinery and equipment slowed the fall in industry the most. The value added of construction was 7.4% lower than in the corresponding period of the previous year, while that of agriculture was 81.1% higher than the low base in the same period of the previous year.

The gross value added of services decreased by 1.0% in total. The highest increase (8.3%) occurred in human health and social work activities. The performance of information and communication was up by 5.0%, those of accommodation and food service activities as well as of arts, recreation and other service activities both by 3.6% and the performance of education by 2.6%. The value added of real estate activities rose by 2.1% and that of financial and insurance activities by 0.5%. The volume of the value added of public administration shrank by 1.7%, that of transportation and storage by 4.3%, the volume of the value added of professional, scientific, technical and administrative activities by 4.5% and that of wholesale and retail trade by 8.7%.

Agriculture contributed positively (by 2.5 percentage points) to the unchanged volume of gross domestic product in the 4th quarter of 2023. Industry lowered the volume of gross domestic product by 1.1 percentage points, services by 0.6 percentage point, construction by 0.5 percentage point and the balance of taxes and subsidies on products by 0.2 percentage point. Within services, it was human health and social work activities that contributed the most positively (by 0.3 percentage point) to the development of GDP.

Expenditure approach

The actual final consumption of households rose by 1.0% compared to the same period of the previous year. Household final consumption expenditure, representing the largest proportion of the components of the actual final consumption of households, lessened by 0.2%. The (domestic) consumption expenditure of households realised on the territory of Hungary was up by 0.2%. Broken down by durability groups, the volume of domestic consumption expenditure decreased in the case of semi-durable and non-durable goods, by 2.1% and 0.3%, respectively, and rose among services and durable goods, by 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively.

The volume of social transfers in kind from the government went up by 4.6%, while that of the actual final consumption of the government diminished by 3.8%. The volume of social transfers in kind from non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) became 10.8% larger.

As a result of the above trends, actual final consumption grew by 0.2%.

Gross fixed capital formation was down by 3.0% in the 4th quarter compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. Both the volume of investments in construction and that in machinery and equipment fell. Out of the industries with the highest share of investments, the volume of developments decreased in manufacturing and in real estate activities, while it stagnated in transportation and storage.

Gross capital formation declined by 13.0% compared to the same period of the previous year.

As a result of the trends of consumption and of capital formation, domestic use as a whole became 4.1% lower in the 4th quarter.

In the external trade of the economy, a surplus of 809 billion forints was generated at current prices. The volume of imports went down at a higher rate (9.0%) than that of exports (4.7%). In trade in goods, accounting for 80% of external trade, imports dropped by 10.4% along with a 6.6% decrease in exports. Within the external trade of the Hungarian economy, the exports of services (including tourism) grew by 3.0% and their imports by 0.6% compared to the same period of the previous year.

The unadjusted, raw volume of gross domestic product remained unchanged in the 4th quarter of 2023. The balance of external trade3 as a whole contributed positively, by 4.1 percentage points and actual final consumption by 0.1 percentage point to the economic performance, while gross capital formation influenced it negatively, by 4.2 percentage points.

In 4th quarter 2023 compared to previous quarter, according to seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled data:
The performance of the economy was unchanged.

From the production approach, the performance went up by 4.2% in agriculture and by 1.5% in services. The performance of construction decreased by 1.6% and that of industry by 1.9%.

From the expenditure approach, the volume of household final consumption expenditure rose by 0.8% and that of social transfers in kind from the government by 0.9%, while the volume of the actual final consumption of the government went down by 0.7% out of the components of actual final consumption. Gross fixed capital formation increased by 1.0%. In external trade, the volumes of exports and imports as a whole fell (by 2.0% and 2.3%, respectively).

  • read also: Hungarian national bank governor attacks Hungarian government in unprecedented way – UPDATED

Hungarian economy in 2023 compared to previous year

According to the first estimation, the value of GDP was 75,044 billion forints at current prices, its volume decreasing by 0.9%. According to calendar adjusted data, the performance of the economy was down by 0.7% compared to the previous year.

From the production approach, value added grew by 68.5% in agriculture, while it became 1.6% lower in services, 5.2% lower in industry and 5.6% lower in construction.

The performance of agriculture increased the volume of GDP by 2.2 percentage points, while construction lowered it by 0.3 percentage point, services by 0.9 percentage point and industry by 1.0 percentage point.

From the expenditure approach, the actual final consumption of households decreased by 1.2% and the actual final consumption of the government by 1.0%, and as a total result of these, the volume of actual final consumption became 1.2% lower. Gross capital formation declined by 14.4%, within which gross fixed capital formation by 8.7%. The volume of exports went down by 0.1% and that of imports by 5.1%.

From the expenditure approach, actual final consumption contributed by 0.8 percentage point and gross capital formation by 4.9 percentage points to the 0.9% decrease in gross domestic product, while the balance of external trade as a whole increased the economic performance by 4.8 percentage points.

The volume of (domestic) consumption expenditure of households realised on the territory of Hungary dropped by 2.4%. Broken down by durability groups, the volume of expenditure rose by 1.6% for durable goods, while it decreased in the remaining groups: by 6.0% in the case of non-durable goods, by 2.3% for semi-durable goods and by 0.1% among services.

As we wrote yesterday, a curious trend has emerged in the food industry: in many cases, Hungarian-produced food can be bought for a lower price in other European countries, like Germany. Pricing paradox: Hungarian food costs less abroad – here is why

EU launches maritime mission against Houthi rebels

EU flag

Hungary has been urging decisive action to restore free and safe navigation in the Red Sea, and now the European Union has decided to launch a maritime mission to suppress Houthi rebels in Yemen in order to protect cargo ships, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign minister, said in Brussels on Monday.

The minister told a press conference after a meeting of the European Union‘s Foreign Affairs Council that it was essential that Operation Shield mounted by Greece, Italy and France should coordinate as closely as possible with the US and the UK with the goal of eliminating disruptions in the supply chain.

The budget for the first year has been set at eight million euros, he noted, adding that this sum would not be sufficient.

“That’s why I proposed supplementing the European Union maritime mission by allocating funding from the European Peace Framework to strengthen the Yemeni coast guard,”

he said.

Also, Houthis should be classed as a terrorist organisation, he said, adding that they were clearly committing acts of terrorism and harming European security. Details: Hungarian government spends billions in South-East Asia, details HERE.

As we wrote earlier, Suzuki has announced a temporary halt regarding the production of the Vitara and S-Cross models at its Esztergom plant for a week due to the recent events at the Red Sea, details HERE.

Number of green vehicles up five fold in the last few years

electric car ev sales

The number of green vehicles registered with green number plates rose to over 88,000 in January from 17,000 in 2020, or a five-fold increase, the energy ministry said on Thursday.

The increase in the fully electric car segment was even higher, 6.5-fold increase during the period, the ministry said on Facebook, adding that the number of these types is expected to exceed 50,000 at the end of this month.

Around 3,000 pure electric green trucks, 500 motorcycles and over 200 run on Hungary’s roads.

Fifty-six percent of vehicles with green plates are fully electric and 60 percent of them were put on the roads in the countryside, the ministry said.

The government’s goal is to promote green energy in the Hungarian transport sector which currently produces one-fifth of all of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. It has earmarked 30 billion forints (EUR 77m) to subsidise the purchase of eco-friendly vehicles by businesses, it said.

The call for proposals, which opened on Monday, had received 1300 applications worth HUF 6.3 (EUR 16m) billion by this morning.

The most popular category of vehicles is passenger cars, with more than 1,200 vehicles, but more than 400 vans would also be purchased with non-repayable grants by the companies that have already applied.

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Hungary trade surplus EUR 1.6 bn in November

Hungary posted a trade surplus of 1.6 billion euros in November, up 3.0 billion euros year-on-year, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a second reading of the data on Thursday.

Exports slipped by 3.1 percent year-on-year to EUR 13.0 billion. Imports dropped by 23 percent to EUR 11.4 billion.

In volume terms, exports were down 3.6 percent, while imports fell by 16 percent, ksh.hu said.

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Adjusted for calendar year effects, export volume was down 3.5 percent and import volume 16 percent.

In a month-on-month comparison, adjusted exports were down 2.8 percent and imports 6.1 percent.

CEE ministers press EC for steps to manage Ukraine grain glut

harvest tractor agriculture grain

Central and eastern European agriculture ministers have once again turned to the European Commission for support in managing the impact of market disturbances caused by the flood of grain imports from Ukraine, Minister of Agriculture István Nagy said on Monday.

In their letter to EC Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis and European Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, the agriculture ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia gave an outline of the market losses their countries’ agricultural products suffered due to Ukrainian grain imports, Nagy said in a statement.

He said the flood of cheap Ukrainian grain was forcing central and eastern European farmers out of their traditional export markets. The minister said that in addition to high production costs, price and revenue risks and adverse weather conditions, the influx of Ukrainian grain caused extra concern for farmers in the region.

Nagy said that because these five countries were key contributors to Europe’s food security given their grain exports, Brussels had a duty to take steps to protect their markets and give them the opportunity to exploit their export potential. One way of doing this, he added, was to introduce tariffs on the “most sensitive agricultural products”.

The minister said he and his counterparts were calling on the EC to prepare a report on how Ukraine’s agricultural production regulations comply with EU regulations.

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Supermarkets in Hungary must indicate if food packaging shrinks

food store spar inflation price hungary (2)

A new government measure will oblige food retailers with sales revenue of more than 1 billion forints (EUR 2.6m) to provide labelling that indicates shrinkflation, the economy ministry said on Monday.

In a statement, the ministry said the government was doing everything it could to protect families and was combatting consumer deception amid difficult economic circumstances.

In parallel with stagnant or rising prices of some produce, the size of packaging has been shrinking in many countries, the statement said, with consumers getting less for their money.

The benchmark for the reduction in weight or volume will be packaging of a given product between January 1, 2020 and July 1, 2023, and retailers must provide information for 2 months of the reduced size of the product, the ministry said.

Producers and suppliers in Hungary will have to inform retailers of any reductions to the size of packaging. The consumer protection authority will take action in the case of non-compliance.

Consumers can also access a public database on the national food chain safety authority’s (NÉBIH) website.

The measure is scheduled to be implemented in the first half of February, the statement said.

The ministry also said that whereas 2023 was the year in which inflation was tamed, steps were being taken to restart growth, and the target in 2024 was for the economy to grow by 4 percent. Measures aim to boost confidence and consumption, maintain an investment rate above 25 percent and further increase labour market activity, it added.

As we wrote on Monday, significant price rises are to come in the Hungarian hospitality industry, details HERE.

Fuel consumption and retail sales of Hungarians have plummeted – latest data

Budapest Hungary people citizen street competitiveness eu

Retail sales in Hungary fell by an annual 5.4 percent in November, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Monday.

Retail sales dropped at the same rate when adjusted for calendar year effects. Adjusted food sales edged down by 0.6 percent, non-food sales dropped by 3.9 percent and vehicle fuel sales by 21.4 percent.

Month on month, retail sales grew by a seasonally and calendar-year-adjusted 0.8 percent.

Between January and November 2023, retail sales fell by an adjusted 8.7 percent.

Commenting on the data, the national economy ministry said the November data were the most promising since retail sales had hit bottom in April 2023. The volume of retail sales in January-November was up by nearly 1,300 billion forints (EUR 3.4bn) year on year, the statement said. The sales of mixed retail stores, which account for 77 percent of food sales, were up at 2022 levels in November, it said.

The government aims to restore growth in 2024, the statement said. Part of that work is to strengthen the public’s trust in the economy, thus raising consumption, which may contribute to achieving the target growth of 4 percent, the statement said.

As we wrote before, Hungary’s gas and electricity consumption fell significantly, details here.

Also, we wrote earlier, the Hungarian government’s financial calculations failed in 2023, details HERE.

Hungarians are the most pessimistic in Europe

poor man

The pessimism of the Hungarians and the inflation in Hungary are both Europe-recorders, even though good news emerged concerning Hungary’s trade surplus.

According to 24.hu, the rate of people spending more than their income every month increased by 20% even though they do not have any savings. That is the main reason why Hungarians are the most pessimistic in Europe. 90% say that inflation will be high in the next half year according to Intrum’s annual European Consumer Payment Report. The document is based on thousands of consumer opinions from 20 countries. Solvency is decreasing in Hungary, slowing down economic growth, Judit Üveges, Intrum’s sales director, said.

Meanwhile, Hungary’s trade surplus reached EUR 708 million in August, widening from EUR 559 million in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a first reading of data on Monday. Exports slipped by 1.5% year-on-year to EUR 11.314 billion, falling for the first time in close to two years. Imports dropped by 18.9% to EUR 10.606 billion, declining for the fifth month in a row.

Read also:

  • Brutal price fall expected on Hungarian property market in next 2-3 years
  • Forint in shambles: 400 HUF/EUR may be on the cards – click HERE for more

Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 77% of Hungary’s exports and 70% of its imports during the month. In January-August, Hungary’s exports increased by 8.9% year-on-year to EUR 100.020 billion, while imports fell by 3.2% to EUR 94.390 billion. The trade surplus reached EUR 5.630 billion.

Budget deficit narrows to HUF 3,264.9 billion in September

Hungary’s cash flow-based budget deficit narrowed to HUF 3,264.9 billion (EUR 8.4 billion) at the end of September on a surplus of HUF 33.7 billion for the month, the finance ministry said in a first release of data on Monday. The central budget deficit reached HUF 3,266.0 billion at the end of September and the social security funds were HUF 135.7 billion in the red. Separate state funds had a HUF 136.7 billion surplus.

Finally, positive news on Hungary’s trade surplus

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Hungary’s trade surplus was 559 million euros in July and its trade balance improved by 1.9 billion euros compared with the same month last year, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a second reading of data on Monday.

Hungary trade surplus at EUR 559 m in July

Exports rose by an annual 3.3 percent to 11.3 billion euros. Imports decreased by 13 percent to 10.7 billion euros, KSH said.

Hungary’s terms of trade improved by 8.3 percent as the forint firmed 6.2 percent to the euro and 14 percent against the dollar.

Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 76 percent of Hungary’s exports and 72 percent of its imports during the month.

In January-July, Hungary’s exports increased by an annual 10.4 percent to 88.7 billion euros, while imports slipped 0.7 percent to 83.8 billion. In volume terms, exports were up 6.2 percent, while imports decreased by 0.3 percent. The trade surplus came to 4.9 billion euros, with the trade balance improving by 9.0 billion euros.

Hungary PMI up at 47.4 in September

Hungary’s seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 47.4 points in September from 46.7 in August, remaining under the 50 point threshold that signals expansion in the manufacturing sector, Halpim, the compiler of the index, said on Monday.

The new orders index fell from the previous month and was under the 50-point mark.

Hungarian e-commerce sector changes drastically thanks to groundbreaking acquisition

Hungarian e-commerce sector changes drastically

Ingatlan.com Plc., a Hungarian company, acquired two flagships in the Hungarian e-commerce sector: Használtautó.hu and Jófogás.hu. That means the business sector will change significantly.

According to index.hu, Ingatlan.com Plc., a Hungarian property buy and sell website, bought Használtautó.hu and Jófogás.hu‘s operator, the Adevinta Classified Media Hungary Ltd. Használtautó is a second-hand and showroom car buy and sell website, while you can buy almost everything on Jófogás, including real estate and cars. Ingatlan.com did not share the buying price, but the acquisition can trigger a significant change in the Hungarian e-commerce sector.

After the transaction, the new business will have two control centres. One’s responsibility will be the Használtautó.hu and the Autónavigátor.hu. Meanwhile, the other will be responsible for Jófogás.hu and Vatera.hu, who left the eMAG Group this summer.

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A loss-making company bought them with state loan

Ingatlan.com wrote that the acquisition was supported by a state program, the Baross Gábor Reindustrialisation Program. The program provided the Hungarian company with a low-interest loan. The new owners said the acquisition might mean a significant change in the domestic e-commerce sector. That is because Hungarian companies have not been present in the sector’s top so far.

They added that such companies were regularly bought by international giants from the Hungarian founders. However, they said that global trend shows locally operated websites have become more successful recently. The new owners hoped that their thorough market knowledge would create development opportunities.

Adevinta Hungary employs 1,300 people. Based on open-source company data, in 2021, their traffic reached HUF 4.33 billion (EUR 11.3 million), while that sum went above HUF 4.55 billion (EUR 11.86 million) in 2022. HUF 300 million came from foreign purchases each year. However, the company was not profitable. In 2021, their loss was HUF 39 million. In 2022, that climbed to HUF 329 million (EUR 860,000).

Unprecedented trade surplus data may help forint

money hungarian forint budget

Hungary’s trade surplus widened to 1.481 billion euros in June from 1.129 billion in May, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a first reading of data on Tuesday.

Exports grew by an annual 11.1 percent, to 13.380 billion euros, while imports decreased by 4.7 percent to 11.899 billion. Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 77 percent of Hungary’s exports and 71 percent of its imports during the month.

In January-June, Hungary’s exports rose by 10.8 percent year on year, to 76.920 billion euros, while imports were up 1.4 percent at 72.890 billion. The trade surplus was 4.030 billion euros. According to Gábor Regős, the leading analyst of the Makronóm Institute, the good news about Hungary’s current balance may help forint to strengthen, Index wrote.

Hungary greenhouse gas emissions down 7 pc yr/yr, close to 2030 target

Hungary’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by 7 percent in 2022 compared with 2021, the energy ministry said on Tuesday, citing the National Meteorological Service (OMSZ) which sends approximate data on emissions to the European Commission at the end of July each year. Since 1990, emissions have fallen by 37 percent, the ministry said in a statement citing the preliminary data.

Industrial emissions were down 18 percent year on year, while those contributed by agriculture declined by 12 percent. Transport-related emissions increased but the upward curve flattened, the statement added. Total emissions of Hungarian businesses registered in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) fell by 12 percent in 2022.

Eurostat data from June indicates that Hungary cut its carbon dioxide emissions from energy use by 8.6 percent, to the greatest extent after the Benelux countries, the statement said. Final data will be released in spring 2024.

Big improvement in the Hungarian trade balance

china shipping trade export

Hungary’s trade surplus reached EUR 1.089 billion in May, widening from EUR 366 million in April, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a first reading of data on Monday.

Exports rose by an annual 5.2 percent to EUR 12.879 billion, a moderate increase, as in April, following a year of double-digit growth. Imports decreased by 5.4 percent to EUR 11.790 billion, falling for the second month in a row after climbing for over two years.

Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 77 percent of Hungary’s exports and 69 percent of its imports during the month.

In January-May, Hungary’s exports increased by an annual 10.5 percent to EUR 63.415 billion, while imports rose by 2.5 percent to EUR 60.906 billion. The trade surplus reached EUR 2.509.

More bad news for the Hungarian economy: both domestic trade and imports have fallen

bud airport cargo

Hungary’s trade surplus was at 366 million euros in April, narrowing from 886 million in March, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Monday.

According to KSH, exports rose by an annual 2.2 percent to 11.350 billion euros, slowing sharply after a year of double-digit growth. Imports decreased by 5.6 percent to 10.984 billion euros, falling for the first time in over two years.

Hungary’s terms of trade improved by 3.6 percent as the forint edged down 0.2 percent against the dollar but firmed 1.1 percent to the dollar.

Trade with other European Union member states accounted for 78 percent of Hungary’s exports and 69 percent of its imports during the month.

In January-April, Hungary’s exports increased by an annual 12.0 percent to 50.536 billion euros, while imports rose by 4.6 percent to 49.116 billion euros. The trade surplus reached 1.420 billion euros.

As we wrote today, Hungarian manufacturing PMI fell significantly, and is now well into recession territory, details HERE.