External trade and balance of payments

External trade statistics are made up of two main areas. Goods trade statistics collect data on the movement of physically existing goods among countries, while external services trade statistics take account of international trade in typically intangible services (e.g. travel, transport). Although services account for the larger part of production, some four-fifths of external trade is in goods. The difference is due to the differing degrees of storability and transportability. The balance of payments is a statistical statement that systematises the economic transactions of a particular country with the rest of the world in a particular period.

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The surplus of the external trade in goods amounted to EUR 697 million, while the level of the external trade turnover decreased by 16% on the export side, and by 11% on the import one, month-on-month, External trade in goods, July 2023 (first estimate)

The value of export was 4.3% higher, while that of import 13% lower in EUR terms in July 2023 than in the same period of the previous year. The balance of the external trade in goods improved by EUR 2.0 billion. Compared to the previous month, the level of export in goods decreased by 16% and the import of goods lessened by 11%.

The surplus of the external trade in services in the 2nd quarter was EUR 2.7 billion, External trade in services, 2nd quarter 2023

In the 2nd quarter of 2023 service exports calculated in EUR increased by 6.7%, their imports grew by 0.8% compared to the same period of the previous year. The surplus was EUR 2.7 billion, EUR 451 million more than in the 2nd quarter of 2022, slightly surpassing the previous record. Exports rised by 8.4%, imports by 5.2%, the surplus increased by EUR 354 million compared to the previous quarter.

Hungary, 2022

The processes taken place in 2022 were mainly determined by the uncertain global environment due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the general and considerable price increases worldwide. Despite these challenges, the Hungarian economy's performance expanded by 4.6% year-on-year, above the EU average. Employment reached a new record high and average earnings rose significantly, but the impact of this was gradually eroded by surging inflation. Population decline continued at a lower pace than in the previous year.

Statistical Pocketbook of Hungary, 2022

Despite the adverse economic effects, GDP volume in 2022 was 4.6% higher than a year earlier, while the employment rate expanded to 74.4%. Fewer deaths followed the end of the pandemic, but the birth rate also fell compared to 2021. In addition to the above data, the tables and graphs in the latest edition of the Statistical Pocketbook of Hungary, published every spring, provide a comprehensive insight into the evolution of social and economic trends in Hungary in 2022.