Hungary’s economy
Hungary is an open, export-driven economy. Service sector accounts for slightly less than two-thirds of the GDP. Within the service sector, the private services (trade, tourism, finance and other economic services) are highly developed. Services, especially economic services, represent a sizeable portion of the country’s export. The transportation sector (with some companies owned by the state and others by private corporations) offers optimum conditions for transit traffic due to Hungary’s favourable geographical location. The agricultural sector, for which Hungary has especially favourable climate conditions, represents approximately 4 % of the country’s GDP. In line with international trends, the industrial sector accounts for around one quarter of the country’s GDP. Recently, primarily export-focused industries have been able to increase their output. These include the automotive industry, telecommunications and computer technology.
According to the Hungarian Central Statistical Office the Hungarian GDP showed strong recovery in 2021 when it grew by 7,1% on year-on-year basis and surpassed its record performance before the pandemic in 2019. This means that the GDP in 2021 was 181 758,6 million USD and the GDP/capita was 18 719 USD (preliminary data).
In 2021, for the year as a whole, the average number of people in employment increased by 31 thousand to 4 million 635 thousand, and the employment rate for people aged 15-64 was 73.1%, 1.2 percentage points higher than a year ago. For the year as a whole, the average number of unemployed people was 196 thousand, with an unemployment rate of 4.1%, essentially the same as a year earlier. Consumer prices increased by 5.1% on average in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Hungary – Malaysia economic relations
In 2021, Malaysia was our country's third most important trade partner among the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The volume of trade between the two countries decreased a bit around 845 million USD. This was mainly due to the decrease in import from Malaysia (-22,9%) while Hungary's exports increased (19,2%) last year. In the first half of 2022, the export from South-East Asian country slowed down (-9,4%), however the Hungarian import increased by a greater pace (+16,3%).
Major bilateral economic related agreements
Convention on the Avoidance of Double Taxation (1991)
Investment Protection Agreement (1995)
Economic Cooperation Agreement (2019)
Important trade related institutions
Hungarian Export Promotion Agency, HEPA
