Government finance

Government finances offer important information regarding the economic status of a country, within it about the general government sector. As a main rule in the European Union member countries the government sector deficit may be 3% of the GDP at most; government debt ratio maximum 60% of the deficit. In case these conditions - the conditions for introducing the Euro also - are not met by a member state the excessive deficit procedure is launched against that state. Statistics regarding the government sector offer, beside deficit and debt related data, information about sums of revenue and expenditure as well as about their content.

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Notification of balance and debt of the general government sector (2nd EDP notification in 2020)

In 2019 the deficit of the general government sector was HUF 985 billion, 2.1% of the GDP based on the second preliminary data of the national accounts. According to data produced in compliance with the methodological requirements of the system of national accounts (ESA 2010) the revenues of the general government sector (HUF 20.7 thousand billion) increased by 8.9% and its expenditures (HUF 21.7 thousand billion) by 8.8%. The debt of the general government sector at the end of 2019 – based on data of the National Bank of Hungary – was HUF 31.1 billion, 65.4% of GDP.

Hungary, 1st quarter 2020

The performance of the Hungarian economy grew by 2.2% in the 1st quarter of 2020, which is a significant tempo-decline compared to the 4-5% increase of the previous two years. The coronavirus epidemic, spreading worldwide by March, severely impacted Hungarian output in the second part of the month. Processes of the world economy, already tainted by tensions and negative expectations have been further damaged in January-February by the spread of the epidemic, impacting indirectly and unfavourably our national economy.

Deficit as a proportion of GDP was 5.3% in the 1st half of 2020, Balance of general government sector, 1st half of 2020 and 2nd quarter of 2020

According to preliminary data, the deficit of the general government sector in the 1st half of 2020 was HUF 1,219 billion, 5.3% of GDP. The balance deteriorated year-on-year by HUF 1,378 billion, or by 6.0 percentage points as a proportion of GDP. The significant deterioration of the balance was due to the economic effect of the coronavirus pandemic and the regulations adopted during the pandemic in Hungary.

National accounts of Hungary, 2019 (2nd preliminary data)

The volume of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Hungary was 4.6% larger in 2019 than a year earlier, and its value per capita approximated HUF 4.9 million. The deficit of the general government sector corresponded to 2.0% of GDP in 2019. Our publication contains in addition to the preliminary data for 2019 the final data for 2018, revised data for earlier years and the effects of a methodological change and routine revisions, the background to the calculations, too.