Fueled by rising domestic consumption and practically full employment, in the first three quarters of 2018 the Hungarian economy grew by just over five percent, and while official government expectations stand at 4.5 percent, the actual figure will very likely be higher.
The latest unemployment data show a 3.7 percent jobless rate, having fallen below four percent earlier this year after a continuous improvement since the 2010 peak of 11.3 percent. This is also reflected in a 10.8 percent year-on-year rise in gross wages to HUF 322.800 ($1,145).
The downside is that at these levels, there is an increasing shortage of both skilled and unskilled labor, something economic policy is already addressing.
Besides consumption, private savings are also on the rise in every form: mutual funds, private pension funds, bank savings and private holdings of government bonds – the latter is approaching HUF 8 trillion ($28.37 bln).
Industrial output in the first ten months of the year rose by 3.4 percent, bringing the growth to a cumulative 36.2 percent since the current, conservative government came to power in 2010.
