In April 2018, the volume of industrial production rose 7.8% year-on-year, a second estimate by the Central Statistical Office (KSH) says, confirming the earlier flash estimate. Based on working day-adjusted data, however, production rose only 2.9%.

Agricultural producer prices were up by 1.2% in April 2018 year-on-year. The main drivers were an increase of 3.1% in the price of crop products and a decrease of 2.4% in the price of live animals and animal products, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported.

The Hungarian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association’s 20th annual investment conference brought LEGO’s ex-head of global brand and business development to Budapest to discuss developments in a strong market.

In April 2018, the number of nights spent by international tourists in commercial accommodation fell by 2.2% due to a high base in April 2017, while domestic tourists spent 0.9% more nights compared to a year earlier. Overall April saw a 0.8% fall in tourist nights. In January-April, there was a 7% growth in tourist nights.

The number of job vacancies has been rising in Hungary at an accelerating pace in the past five quarters, with the year-on-year rate of increase reaching 33% by the first quarter of 2018, reveal figures from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) released Friday.   

If a shortage of trained workers were to endanger an important investment, the government would help to fill the gap with foreign workers after issuing the necessary licenses, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga told a business forum organized by AmCham Hungary on Friday.

The government has drafted next yearʼs budget with increased reserves and a smaller deficit to provide a defense for possible crises on international markets, ensuring "secure growth," Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in his regular weekly interview on public radio on Friday.  

Consumer prices were 2.8% higher on average in May 2018 than a year earlier, according to monthly data released Friday by the Central Statistical Office (KSH). The highest price increases in this period were measured for alcoholic beverages and tobacco, as well as for motor fuels.

In euro terms, exports increased by 10.7% and imports by 15.7% in April 2018 compared to the same month of the previous year, according to a first, flash estimate of data for the external trade in goods from the Central Statistical Office (KSH).

Hungaryʼs cash flow-based general government, excluding local councils, ran a deficit of HUF 1,187.5 billion at the end of May, the Ministry of Finance said in a preliminary release of data on Thursday. The deficit has thus reached 87.27% of the HUF 1,360.7 bln full-year target, state news wire MTI calculated.

In April 2018, the volume of industrial output increased by 7.8% year-on-year, according to a first estimate by the Central Statistical Office (KSH). Based on working day-adjusted data, production rose by 2.9%.

Retail sales in Hungary rose 4.3% year-on-year in April, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in a first reading of data on Tuesday. Growth slowed from 8.7% in the previous month, when spending rose in the run-up to the Easter holiday.

The volume of gross domestic product was 4.4% higher in Hungary in the first quarter of 2018 than in the corresponding period of the previous year, with market-based services being the primary contributor, a second estimate from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) confirmed Tuesday.

Hungaryʼs seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managersʼ Index (PMI) rose to 55.4 points in May, up from 53.3 points in April, state news wire MTI reported.  An index value above 50 shows expansion in the manufacturing sector, while a value under 50 signals contraction.

The Ministry of Finance will support municipalities and local council-owned companies employing students aged 16-25 years this summer with HUF 3 billion, continuing a program started earlier, Minister of Finance Mihály Varga announced Monday.

In March 2018, export volume fell by 3.2% and import volume by 0.5% year-on-year. The surplus was EUR 567 million, some EUR 255 mln less than the figure in March 2017. In the first three months of 2018, the external trade surplus was EUR 2.1 billion.

Industrial producer prices were 2.7% higher in April 2018 than in the same month of the previous year. Domestic output prices increased by 3.2% on average, while export prices went up by 2.5% compared to April 2017, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported.

The European Commission is allocating cohesion funds of EUR 17.9 billion to Hungary at 2018 prices in its EU budget proposal for the period 2021-2027, about 20% less than in the previous budgetary period, the proposal published in Brussels on Tuesday shows.   

The dynamic expansion in investments that characterized 2017 has persisted into the first quarter of 2018. The volume of investments in the current quarter exceeded the volume in Q1 2017 by 17.3%, with investment activity rising in most areas of the national economy, data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) show.

The rolling three-month average rate of unemployment in Hungary fell by 0.7 of a percentage point to 3.8% in February–April 2018, compared to the corresponding period of 2017, the latest data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) show. Meanwhile, the employment rate among Hungarians aged 15–64 rose to 68.8%.