In mid-November, the American consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble announced that capacity expansion, research and development (a regular theme nowadays as Hungary moves from pure manufacturing towards value-added roles), and employee training all formed part of a nearly EUR 200 million investment program the firm is launching at its sites in Gyöngyös and Csömör.
A couple of days earlier, Mercedes-Benz announced an R&D project at its factory in Kecskemét, the first time the firm has chosen Hungary for one of its highest value-added investments. The EUR 54.4 mln project will strengthen the site’s strategic role within the German automaker’s global production network. Within the business services sector, there were 120 service centers in Hungary in 2019, employing around 55,000 people. The 2025 survey registered 245 centers with nearly 120,000 employees. Hipa said earlier this month that it is currently negotiating 15 new projects. Since 2014, the agency says it has supported 116 BSC investments, creating more than 22,000 new jobs.
Internationally, there can be no doubt that Hungary is doing a good job attracting investment. Domestically, the picture is less rosy, as our Macroscope report on page three makes clear. Investments in Hungary fell by 4.1% in Q3 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, based on seasonally adjusted data, while the total value of investments decreased by 0.3% compared to Q2 2025, according to the latest investment report from the Central Statistical Office. Looking at the first three quarters as a whole, investment decreased by 5.4% in 2025. Indeed, investments have fallen in 12 of the 13 quarters since the 2022 election, based on adjusted data. While the decline in investments has lasted for more than three years and has not yet ended, the pace of the decline has slowed significantly recently, suggesting that the slump may be bottoming out.
As one of the analysts we quote described it, the sluggish rate of GDP growth underlines how manufacturing industry is suffering, and it will not want to expand capacity or develop technology while order levels are low. Presenting the latest results of its now biannual investor sentiment survey, the German-Hungarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce underscored that view. Vice chairman Achim Weinstock stressed that there is no indication of a rapid or noticeable upswing in business performance. “The balance of positive and negative responses remains close to zero, signaling a stabilization of the economy at a quite low level rather than a meaningful recovery,” he notes in our report on page eight.
Hungary’s economy will only start to accelerate meaningfully when domestic players are happy to invest in their future again. Speaking at the presentation of the German chamber survey results, Ákos Kozák, of the Equilibrium Institute, warned that he sees the medium-term growth prospects as limited by low labor productivity and a narrowing workforce pool. Some positive impetus may come from EU-funded investment sources, gradually recovering consumer confidence and ongoing industrial developments, particularly in automotive and battery manufacturing. But even then, risks remain regarding global trade tensions, fluctuating energy prices and demographic constraints. Is Hungary ready to turn a corner in 2026? Let’s hope so. A meaningful peace deal in Ukraine wouldn’t hurt, either.
Robin Marshall
Editor-in-chief
This editorial was first published in the Budapest Business Journal print issue of November 28, 2025.
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