The ever-growing financial divide in Hungary

According to portfolio.hu, the most commonly used indicator of welfare, GDP, is 4.7 times greater in Budapest than in Nógrád County, and 3.6 times greater than in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County – just to give two outstanding examples. It seems like the financial divide in Hungary is far from decreasing.

The abovementioned data was presented by Barnabás Virág, the managing director of the National Bank of Hungary. He added that the prominent regional difference in development has not been improved by the EU funding since investments mostly happen in regions that already have a high level of development.

These regional differences must be taken into account when planning the development policy of the upcoming period, so that competitiveness can be increased in the whole country.

The rate of GDP/person was 136% of the EU average in Budapest (in 2016), while it was only 29% in the northern Nógrád County. The second worth rate, 38%, belongs to the eastern Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County.