Published on: 30 March 2021

Methodological change

4 million 550 thousand people in employment

4 million 550 thousand people aged 15-74 were employed in February 2021, down 104 thousand from the same period last year, largely as a consequence of the restrictions introduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and up 14 thousand from last month. In the period from December 2020 to February 2021, 4 million 574 thousand people were employed, down 50 thousand on the year earlier, mainly due to declining employment among people working abroad but belonging to households in Hungary.

In February1 2021:

4 million 550 thousand people were employed2 in February, up 14 thousand from the previous month, but down 104 thousand from last year’s February, mostly due to the economic consequences of the pandemic.

71.8% of 15–64 year olds were employed, up 0.7 percentage points from January and down 0.8 percentage points from last year’s February.

In December 2020 –February 2021, compared to a year before3:

The number of employed people was 50 thousand (1.1%) lower at 4 million 574 thousand. Employment did not change in the primary labour market, while in the group of public workers it decreased by 12 thousand and among members of Hungarian households working abroad fell by 39 thousand.

Number of employed people aged 15–74, December 2020–February 2021

Denomination Number, thousand persons Change in headcounta)
thousand persons %
Work in the domestic primary labour market4401.10.80.0
Public worker b)93.5–11.7–11.1
Work at local units abroad79.0–39.2–33.2
Total4573.6–50.1–1.1
Of which: those who are permanently absent due to childcare fee137.83.82.8

a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.
b) Based on the respondent's self-classification.

4 million 486 thousand people aged 15–64 were considered employed, the employment rate of this age group was 71.8%. The number of the employed among men decreased slightly by 10 thousand to 2 million 408 thousand, but their employment rate grew by 0.2 percentage points to 77.1%, for demographic reasons. Regarding women, the number of employed decreased by 47 thousand to 2 million 78 thousand, and their employment rate by 0.8 percentage points to 66.5%.

The number of employed people in the young age group (15–24 years) decreased by 25 thousand to 264 thousand, and their employment rate by 2.1 percentage points to 26.8%. Among the so-called best working age population (25–54 years) the employment rate decreased by 1.1 percentage point to 85.8%. In the older, 55–64 age group, the number of the employed increased by 9 thousand to 706 thousand and the employment rate by 2.9 percentage points to 60.8%.

Employment among 15–64 year-olds by age group, December 2020–February 2021

Age group, year-old Number Employment rate
thousand persons change, thousand personsa) % change, percentage pointa)
15–24264.4–24.726.8–2.1
25–543 515.2–41.385.8–1.1
55–64706.39.060.82.9
Total4 485.9–56.971.8–0.3
Of which: 20–644 465.3–54.377.4–0.2

a) Compared to the same period of the previous year.