INVESTING IN HUNGARY

Welcome to our annual look at Hungary’s investment landscape. The country continues to do a remarkable job in attracting FDI. In 2024, foreign investors committed EUR 10.3 billion in new capital, the second consecutive year Hungary has surpassed the EUR 10 bln threshold. At the time of writing, the final figures for 2025 have not been published, but it is clear that the momentum generated last year has been carried forward.

Those sorts of results don’t come about by accident. If anything, Hungary is having to work even harder in the face of a changed global landscape. With European demand cooling, automotive transformation lagging, and regional competition intensifying, Hungary must sharpen its service offering, improve talent development, and offer targeted incentives to secure investment growth in the decade ahead, warns Zsombor Tóth, partner and managing director of Investment and Business Services Hungary.

If you want a playbook for how to take a city that struggled when the market economy first came to Hungary, and turn it into the sort of FDI magnet that has the likes of BMW and CATL beating a path to it, the story of Debrecen shows how a well-crafted strategy can propel a city to new heights and turn it into an investment hub, regardless of today’s turbulent times.

Elsewhere in this publication, we take a deep dive into the real estate investment market, the factors driving it, and the trends for the year ahead. We discuss the growth of business services centers in Hungary, the importance of FDI, and the rebound in commercial real estate with Colliers. Big Four consultancy PwC tells us why Hungary is among the most competitive in Europe for R&D-related benefits.

Part of the case for investing in Hungary is the quality and quantity of its engineering and R&D professionals, but that, too, needs to be cultivated. How can the next generation, particularly young women, find their place in this evolving technological landscape? A nationwide survey commissioned by Cetin Hungary suggests that while digital awareness is growing, a significant gender gap persists in STEM-related career ambitions, and that early education may hold the key to closing it.

Meanwhile, innovation rock star Petya Balogh, co-founder and CEO of STRT Holding, argues that Hungary’s entrepreneurs are not short on ideas, only on optimism and funding. He argues that the narrative surrounding entrepreneurship in Hungary is far bleaker than reality.

For these stories and much else besides, pick up a copy of Investing in Hungary 2025-26.