GDP rises by 4.5%
The volume of gross domestic product was 4.5% higher in Hungary in the 4th quarter of 2019 than in the corresponding period of the previous year. Market-based services contributed to the growth to a greater, industry and construction to a lesser extent. According to seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled data the performance of the economy was up by 4.6% compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year and by 1.0% compared to the previous quarter. In 2019, GDP rose by 4.9% compared to a year earlier.
In the 4th quarter of 2019 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year:
The volume of GDP was up by 4.5%. Compared with the 4th-quarter figure issued in the flash estimate, the raw volume index in the second estimate was unchanged.
Production approach:
The performance of industry rose by 3.2%, within which that of manufacturing by 3.0% compared to the same period of the previous year. Among manufacturing branches, the largest contributors to the growth of industry were the manufacture of electrical equipment and the manufacture of computer, electronic and optical products. The value added of construction increased by 11%, within which civil engineering went up significantly. The performance of agriculture grew by 1.0% compared to the corresponding period of the previous year.
Table 1: Volume indices of production of gross domestic product (GDP)
(corresponding period of previous year = 100.0%)
| NACE | Industry | 2018 | 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quarter | ||||||
| IV. | I. | II. | III. | IV. | ||
| A | Agriculture, forestry and fishing | 107.9 | 102.2 | 99.4 | 98.0 | 101.0 |
| B–E | Manufacturing, mining and quarrying and other industry | 101.7 | 105.8 | 103.8 | 107.6 | 103.2 |
| C | Of which: manufacturing | 101.8 | 106.0 | 103.3 | 108.1 | 103.0 |
| F | Construction | 116.5 | 144.5 | 127.2 | 118.4 | 111.3 |
| G–T | Services, total, of which: | 105.8 | 103.8 | 104.3 | 104.0 | 104.6 |
| G+I | Wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food service activities | 112.6 | 106.5 | 107.7 | 109.4 | 110.7 |
| H | Transportation and storage | 101.2 | 103.3 | 105.5 | 106.1 | 106.1 |
| J | Information and communication | 111.2 | 106.5 | 105.1 | 106.5 | 106.9 |
| K | Financial and insurance activities | 103.8 | 103.1 | 103.9 | 104.1 | 104.5 |
| L | Real estate activities | 103.3 | 104.6 | 104.6 | 103.9 | 104.3 |
| M–N | Professional, scientific, technical and administrative activities | 112.1 | 107.8 | 107.3 | 106.1 | 105.8 |
| O–Q | Public administration, education and health and social work activities | 99.6 | 99.2 | 99.6 | 97.6 | 98.0 |
| R–T | Arts, entertainment and other services | 101.9 | 102.8 | 102.1 | 101.9 | 103.1 |
| GDP, total (at purchasers’ prices) | 105.3 | 105.3 | 104.9 | 105.0 | 104.5 | |
The gross value added of services was up by 4.6% in total, the highest growth (11%) was reached by wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food service activities. The value added of information and communication rose by 6.9% and that of professional, scientific, technical and administrative activities by 5.8%. The performance of financial and insurance activities increased by 4.5%. The total value added of public administration, education and health diminished by 2.0%.
Services contributed by 2.6 percentage points, industry by 0.7 percentage point and construction by 0.6 percentage point to the 4.5% rise of gross domestic product in the 4th quarter of 2019. The most significant contribution (1.3 percentage points) within services was observed for wholesale and retail trade and accommodation and food service activities.
Expenditure approach:
The actual final consumption of households was up by 4.8% compared to the same period of the previous year. Household final consumption expenditure, representing the largest proportion of the components of the actual final consumption of households, rose by 5.4%. The (domestic) consumption expenditure of households realised on the territory of Hungary was 5.2% higher than a year earlier. Within this, a higher-than-average growth was recorded in the volume of domestic consumption expenditure on durable goods (e.g. passenger motor vehicles, furniture, large electric household appliances: 19%) and semi-durable goods (e.g. clothing, small household appliances, parts for vehicles: 8.0%), compared with a lower-than-average rise for non-durable goods (e.g. food, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, electricity, gas and other fuels, water supply, medicines: 3.5%) as well as services (3.7%).
The volume of social transfers in kind from the government grew by 2.3% and that of the actual final consumption of the government by 7.0%. The volume of social transfers in kind from non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) was up by 2.9%.
As a result of the above trends, actual final consumption became 5.1% higher.
Gross fixed capital formation went on increasing substantially, it was 7.0% higher in the 4th quarter than in the corresponding period of the previous year. The volume of investments in construction and in machinery and equipment both went up, the former at a higher rate. In the industries with the largest weight in total investments, the volume of investments rose in transportation and storage and real estate activities, while it decreased in manufacturing.
Gross capital formation increased by 9.7% compared to one year earlier.
As a result of the trends of consumption and capital formation, domestic use as a whole became 6.6% higher in the 4th quarter.
Table 2: Volume indices of final use of gross domestic product (GDP)
(corresponding period of previous year = 100.0%)
| Items of use | 2018 | 2019 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| quarter | |||||
| IV. | I. | II. | III. | IV. | |
| Household final consumption expenditure | 104.5 | 104.9 | 104.8 | 105.0 | 105.4 |
| Social transfers in kind from government | 99.4 | 101.9 | 103.0 | 98.7 | 102.3 |
| Social transfers in kind from NPISHs | 101.2 | 109.4 | 108.8 | 100.6 | 102.9 |
| Actual final consumption of households | 103.5 | 104.5 | 104.7 | 103.8 | 104.8 |
| Actual final consumption of government | 95.5 | 98.5 | 98.0 | 104.0 | 107.0 |
| Actual final consumption, total | 102.3 | 103.7 | 103.7 | 103.8 | 105.1 |
| Gross fixed capital formation | 117.8 | 124.9 | 117.8 | 116.1 | 107.0 |
| Changes in inventoriesa) | x | x | x | x | x |
| Acquisitions less disposals of valuablesa) | x | x | x | x | x |
| Gross capital formation, total | 120.7 | 111.6 | 112.3 | 105.9 | 109.7 |
| Domestic use, total | 107.1 | 105.2 | 105.8 | 104.8 | 106.6 |
| Exports, of which: | 104.9 | 107.3 | 103.7 | 110.2 | 103.3 |
| Exports of goods | 105.3 | 106.8 | 102.8 | 110.3 | 101.3 |
| Exports of services | 103.1 | 109.0 | 107.0 | 109.8 | 110.6 |
| Imports, of which: | 107.1 | 107.1 | 104.6 | 110.2 | 105.9 |
| Imports of goods | 108.6 | 107.4 | 104.6 | 110.4 | 105.1 |
| Imports of services | 100.0 | 105.7 | 104.6 | 109.2 | 110.2 |
| External balance of goods and servicesa) | x | x | x | x | x |
| Gross domestic product (GDP), total | 105.3 | 105.3 | 104.9 | 105.0 | 104.5 |
a) For these items the volume index is not applicable.
In the external trade of the national economy a surplus of 208 billion forints – smaller than a year earlier – was generated at current prices. The volume increase of imports (5.9%) exceeded that of exports (3.3%). In trade in goods, exports grew by 1.3% and imports by 5.1%. Within the external trade of the national economy, the exports of services (including tourism) rose by 11% and their imports by 10% compared to one year earlier.
Actual final consumption contributed by 3.5 percentage points and gross capital formation by 3.0 percentage points to the 4.5% growth of gross domestic product in the 4th quarter of 2019. The balance of external trade as a whole slowed down the growth of economic performance by 1.9 percentage points.
In the 4th quarter of 2019 compared to the previous quarter, according to seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled data:
The performance of the economy went up by 1.0%.
From the production approach, gross value added grew by 1.5% in services, it decreased by 1.1% in industry and by 1.4% in construction.
From the expenditure approach, household final consumption expenditure became 1.4%, the actual final consumption of the government 1.2% and the volume of social transfers in kind from the government 0.5% higher out of the components of actual final consumption. Gross fixed capital formation rose by 0.3%. In external trade, exports were down by 1.5% and imports by 1.4%.
In 2019 compared to the previous year:
According to the first estimation the value of GDP was 46,787 billion forints at current prices, its volume grew by 4.9%. The performance of the economy was up by 4.9% according to seasonally and calendar adjusted and reconciled data, too.
From the production approach, value added increased by 21% in construction, by 5.0% in industry and by 4.2% in services and it diminished by 0.3% in agriculture.
Services contributed to the growth of GDP by 2.3 percentage points and industry and construction by 1.0 percentage point each.
From the expenditure approach, the actual final consumption of households was up by 4.4% and the actual final consumption of the government by 2.0%, and as a total result of these, actual final consumption became 4.1% higher. Gross capital formation rose by 9.5%, within which gross fixed capital formation by 15%. Exports grew by 6.0% and imports by 6.9%.
From the expenditure approach, actual final consumption raised the GDP growth rate by 2.8 percentage points and gross capital formation by 2.6 percentage points. The balance of external trade as a whole slowed down the growth of economic performance by 0.4 percentage point.