Hungary

People & Society

Nationality:
noun: Hungarian(s)
adjective: Hungarian

Ethnic groups:
Hungarian 92.3%, Roma 1.9%, other or unknown 5.8% (2001 census)

Languages:
Hungarian 84.6%, other or unspecified 16.4% (2011 est.)

Religions:
Roman Catholic 37.2%, Calvinist 11.6%, Lutheran 2.2%, Greek Catholic 1.8%, other 1.9%, none 18.2%, unspecified 27.2% (2011 est.)

Population:
9,919,128 (July 2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 90

Age structure:
0-14 years: 14.8% (male 757,868/female 712,908)
15-24 years: 11.7% (male 596,005/female 561,606)
25-54 years: 41.6% (male 2,071,845/female 2,056,611)
55-64 years: 17.8% (male 639,298/female 754,129)
65 years and over: 17.5% (male 661,256/female 1,107,602) (2014 est.)

Dependency ratios:
total dependency ratio: 47.4 %
youth dependency ratio: 21.7 %
elderly dependency ratio: 25.6 %
potential support ratio: 3.9 (2014 est.)

Median age:
total: 41.1 years
male: 39.1 years
female: 43.5 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate:
-0.21% (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 214

Birth rate:
9.26 births/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 207

Death rate:
12.72 deaths/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 23

Net migration rate:
1.34 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 55

Urbanization:
urban population: 69.5% of total population (2011)
rate of urbanization: 0.51% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas – population:
BUDAPEST (capital) 1.737 million (2011)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.91 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.59 male(s)/female
total population: 0.91 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Mother’s mean age at first birth:
28.3 (2011 est.)

Maternal mortality rate:
21 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)
country comparison to the world: 135

Infant mortality rate:
total: 5.09 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 179
male: 5.36 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 4.81 deaths/1,000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 75.46 years
country comparison to the world: 93
male: 71.73 years
female: 79.41 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate:
1.42 children born/woman (2014 est.)
country comparison to the world: 206

Health expenditures:
7.7% of GDP (2011)
country comparison to the world: 72

Physicians density:
3.41 physicians/1,000 population (2010)

Hospital bed density:
7.2 beds/1,000 population (2010)

Drinking water source:
improved:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved:
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2011 est.)

Sanitation facility access:
improved:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved:
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2011 est.)

HIV/AIDS – adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 118

HIV/AIDS – people living with HIV/AIDS:
3,000 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 133

HIV/AIDS – deaths:
fewer than 200 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 112

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: intermediate
vectorborne diseases: tickborne encephalitis (2013)

Obesity – adult prevalence rate:
27.6% (2008)
country comparison to the world: 37

Education expenditures:
4.9% of GDP (2010)
country comparison to the world: 81

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99.2%
female: 98.9% (2011 est.)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 15 years
male: 15 years
female: 16 years (2011)

Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
total: 28.1%
country comparison to the world: 33
male: 28.8%
female: 27.3% (2012)

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Government

Country name:
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Hungary
local long form: none
local short form: Magyarorszag

Government type:
parliamentary democracy

Capital:
name: Budapest
geographic coordinates: 47 30 N, 19 05 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October

Administrative divisions:
19 counties (megyek, singular – megye), 23 urban counties (singular – megyei varos), and 1 capital city (fovaros)
counties: Bacs-Kiskun, Baranya, Bekes, Borsod-Abauj-Zemplen, Csongrad, Fejer, Gyor-Moson-Sopron, Hajdu-Bihar, Heves, Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok, Komarom-Esztergom, Nograd, Pest, Somogy, Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg, Tolna, Vas, Veszprem, Zala
urban counties: Bekescsaba, Debrecen, Dunaujvaros, Eger, Erd, Gyor, Hodmezovasarhely, Kaposvar, Kecskemet, Miskolc, Nagykanizsa, Nyiregyhaza, Pecs, Salgotarjan, Sopron, Szeged, Szekesfehervar, Szekszard, Szolnok, Szombathely, Tatabanya, Veszprem, Zalaegerszeg

capital city: Budapest

Independence:
16 November 1918 (republic proclaimed); notable earlier dates: 25 December 1000 (crowning of King STEPHEN I, traditional founding date); 30 March 1867 (Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy established)

National holiday:
Saint Stephen’s Day, 20 August; note – commemorates the date when his remains were transferred to Buda (now Budapest)

Constitution:
previous 1949 (heavily amended in 1989 following collapse of communism); latest approved 18 April 2011, signed 25 April 2011, effective 1 January 2012; amended several times, last in 2013 (2013)

Legal system:
civil legal system influenced by the German model

International law organization participation:
accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Suffrage:
18 years of age, 16 if married; universal

Executive branch:
chief of state: Janos ADER (since 10 May 2012)
head of government: Prime Minister Viktor ORBAN (since 29 May 2010)
cabinet: Cabinet of Ministers prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; other ministers proposed by the prime minister and appointed and relieved of their duties by the president
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elections: president elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 2 May 2012 (next to be held by May 2017); prime minister elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president; election following the formation of a new government held on 10 May 2014
election results: Janos ADER elected president, National Assembly vote – 262 to 40; Viktor ORBAN elected prime minister, National Assembly vote – 130 to 57
note: to be elected, the president must win two-thirds of legislative vote in the first round or a simple majority in the second round

Legislative branch:
unicameral National Assembly or Orszaggyules (199 seats; 106 single-round, single-member district vote, 93 nationwide party list vote; members serve four-year terms)
elections: last held on 6 April 2014 (next to be held in April 2018)
election results: percent of vote by party – Fidesz-KNDP 66.8%, Unity 19.1%, Jobbik 11.6%, LMP 2.5%; seats by party – Fidesz-KNDP 133, Unity 38, Jobbik 23, LMP 5

Judicial branch:
highest court(s): Curia or Supreme Judicial Court (consists of Curia president and 8 judges); Constitutional Court (consists of 15 members)
judge selection and term of office: Curia president elected from among its members for 9 years by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the president of the republic; other Curia judges appointed by the president upon the recommendation of the National Council of Justice, a separate 15-member administrative body; all judges serve until the normal retirement age; Constitutional Court members elected by two-thirds vote of the National Assembly; members serve 12-year terms
subordinate courts: regional courts of appeal; county courts, including the Municipal Court of Budapest; local courts

Political parties and leaders:
Christian Democratic People’s Party or KDNP [Zsolt SEMJEN]
Democratic Coalition or DK [Ferenc GYURCSANY]
Dialogue for Hungary or PM [Benedek JAVOR, Timea SZABO, co-chairs]
Fidesz-Hungarian Civic Alliance or Fidesz [Viktor ORBAN, chairman]
Hungarian Liberal Party or MLP [Gabor FODOR]
Hungarian Socialist Party or MSZP [Attila MESTERHAZY]
Movement for a Better Hungary or Jobbik [Gabor VONA]
Politics Can Be Different or LMP [Andras SCHIFFER, Bernadett SZEL]
Together or Egyutt [Gordon BAJNAI]
Unity [a coalition of MSZP, Egyutt, DK, PM, and MLP]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Air Work Group (works to reduce air pollution in towns and cities)
Danube Circle (protests the building of the Gabchikovo-Nagymaros dam)
Fourth Republic (Negyedik Koztarsasag) or 4K! (anti-Orban, pro-democracy Facebook movement emerged from a Facebook group, One Million for Freedom of the Press or “Milla”)
Green Future (protests the impact of lead contamination of local factory on health of the people)
Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (Tarsasag a Szabadsagjogokert) or TASZ (freedom of expression, information privacy)
Hungarian Helsinki Committee (asylum seekers’ rights, human rights in law enforcement and the judicial system)
Szolidaritas (“Solidarity,” formed in October 2011 by three trade unions and an NGO – anti-Orban government)
“Egyutt 2014-Parbeszed Magyarorszagert” (“Together 2014-Dialogue for Hungary,” a political electoral alliance bringing together Milla, Szolidaritas, and “Haza es Haladas,” an association headed by former PM Gordon BAJNAI, to contest Fidesz and Viktor ORBAN in the 2014 parliamentary elections)
Civil Osszefogas Forum (“Civil Unity Forum,” nominally independent organization that serves as the steering committee for the pro-government mass organization Bekemenet (Peace March), supporting ORBAN government’s policies)
environmentalists:
Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (Magyar Madartani Egyesulet) or MME
Green Alternative (Zold Alternativa)

International organization participation:
Australia Group, BIS, CD, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, ESA (cooperating state), EU, FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINURSO, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OIF (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Gyorgy SZAPARY (since 31 January 2011)
chancery: 3910 Shoemaker Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 362-6730
FAX: [1] (202) 966-8135
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York

Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d’Affaires M. Andre GOODFRIEND (since August 2013)
embassy: Szabadsag ter 12, H-1054 Budapest
mailing address: pouch: American Embassy Budapest, 5270 Budapest Place, US Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-5270
telephone: [36] (1) 475-4400
FAX: [36] (1) 475-4764

Flag description:
three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and green; the flag dates to the national movement of the 18th and 19th centuries, and fuses the medieval colors of the Hungarian coat of arms with the revolutionary tricolor form of the French flag; folklore attributes virtues to the colors: red for strength, white for faithfulness, and green for hope; alternatively, the red is seen as being for the blood spilled in defense of the land, white for freedom, and green for the pasturelands that make up so much of the country

National symbol(s):
Holy Crown of Hungary (Crown of Saint Stephen); turul (falcon)

National anthem:
name: “Himnusz” (Hymn)

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Economy

Economy – overview:
Hungary has made the transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, with a per capita income nearly two-thirds that of the EU-28 average. In late 2008, Hungary’s impending inability to service its short-term debt – brought on by the global financial crisis – led Budapest to obtain an IMF/EU/World Bank-arranged financial assistance package worth over $25 billion. The global economic downturn, declining exports, and low domestic consumption and fixed asset accumulation, dampened by government austerity measures, resulted in a severe economic contraction in 2009.

In 2010 the new government implemented a number of changes including cutting business and personal income taxes, but imposed “crisis taxes” on financial institutions, energy and telecom companies, and retailers. The IMF/EU bail-out program lapsed at the end of the year and was replaced by Post Program Monitoring and Article IV Consultations on overall economic and fiscal processes. At the end of 2011 the government turned to the IMF and the EU to obtain financial backstop to support its efforts to refinance foreign currency debt and bond obligations in 2012 and beyond, but Budapest’s rejection of EU and IMF economic policy recommendations led to a breakdown in talks with the lenders in late 2012.

Global demand for high yield has since helped Hungary to obtain funds on international markets. Hungary’s progress reducing its deficit to under 3% of GDP led the European Commission in 2013 to permit Hungary for the first time since joining the EU in 2004 to exit the Excessive Deficit Procedure.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$196.6 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 57
$196.3 billion (2012 est.)
$199.8 billion (2011 est.)
note: data are in 2013 US dollars

GDP (official exchange rate):
$130.6 billion (2013 est.)

GDP – real growth rate:
0.2% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 192
-1.7% (2012 est.)
1.6% (2011 est.)

GDP – per capita (PPP):
$19,800 (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 71
$19,800 (2012 est.)
$20,000 (2011 est.)
note: data are in 2013 US dollars

Gross national saving:
17.1% of GDP (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 95
19.3% of GDP (2012 est.)
20.4% of GDP (2011 est.)

GDP – composition, by end use:
household consumption: 55.5%
government consumption: 20.4%
investment in fixed capital: 16.4%
investment in inventories: -0.7%
exports of goods and services: 97.2%
imports of goods and services: -88.8%
(2013 est.)

GDP – composition, by sector of origin:
agriculture: 3.4%
industry: 28%
services: 68.7% (2013 est.)

Agriculture – products:
wheat, corn, sunflower seed, potatoes, sugar beets; pigs, cattle, poultry, dairy products

Industries:
mining, metallurgy, construction materials, processed foods, textiles, chemicals (especially pharmaceuticals), motor vehicles

Industrial production growth rate:
1.8% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 131

Labor force:
4.263 million (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 88

Labor force – by occupation:
agriculture: 7.1%
industry: 29.7%
services: 63.2% (2011)

Unemployment rate:
10.5% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 113
10.7% (2012 est.)

Population below poverty line:
14% (2012)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 3.1%
highest 10%: 22.6% (2009)

Distribution of family income – Gini index:
24.7 (2009)
country comparison to the world: 138
24.4 (1998)

Budget:
revenues: $62.24 billion
expenditures: $66.01 billion (2013 est.)

Taxes and other revenues:
47.7% of GDP (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 17

Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-):
-2.9% of GDP
country comparison to the world: 119
note: Hungary has been under the EU Excessive Deficit Procedure since it joined the EU in 2004; in March 2012 the EU elevated its Excessive Deficit Procedure against Hungary and proposed freezing 30% of the country’s Cohesion Funds because 2011 deficit reductions were not achieved in a sustainable manner; in June 2012, the EU lifted the freeze, reognizing that steps had been taken to reduce the deficit; the latest EC forecasts project the Hungarian deficit to increase above 3% both in 2013 and in 2014 due to sluggish growth and the government’s fiscal tightening (2013 est.)

Public debt:
79.8% of GDP (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 27
79.3% of GDP (2012 est.)
note: general government gross debt is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year in the following categories of government liabilities: currency and deposits, securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives, and government, state government, local government, and social security funds.

Fiscal year:
calendar year

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.9% (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 65
5.7% (2012 est.)

Central bank discount rate:
5.75% (19 December 2012)
country comparison to the world: 41
7% (31 December 2011)

Commercial bank prime lending rate:
6.5% (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 97
9.02% (31 December 2012 est.)

Stock of narrow money:
$34.75 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 56
$33.03 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

Stock of broad money:
$67.47 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 64
$68.7 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

Stock of domestic credit:
$77.79 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 58
$87.27 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

Market value of publicly traded shares:
$22.9 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
country comparison to the world: 58
$22.8 billion (31 December 2011)
$27.71 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

Current account balance:
$1.722 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 45
$2.087 billion (2012 est.)

Exports:
$92.98 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 39
$90.23 billion (2012 est.)

Exports – commodities:
machinery and equipment 53.5%, other manufactures 31.2%, food products 8.7%, raw materials 3.4%, fuels and electricity 3.9% (2012)

Exports – partners:
Germany 25.6%, Romania 6.2%, Slovakia 6.1%, Austria 6%, Italy 4.8%, France 4.8%, UK 4.2% (2012)
Imports:
$89.52 billion (2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 37
$87.37 billion (2012 est.)

Imports – commodities:
machinery and equipment 45.4%, other manufactures 34.3%, fuels and electricity 12.6%, food products 5.3%, raw materials 2.5% (2012)

Imports – partners:
Germany 25.1%, Russia 8.8%, China 7.4%, Austria 7.1%, Slovakia 5.6%, Poland 4.8%, Italy 4.5%, Netherlands 4.2% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$38.49 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 47
$44.67 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

Debt – external:
$170.3 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 34
$169.3 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment – at home:
$112 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 40
$107 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment – abroad:
$45.95 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
country comparison to the world: 38
$41.82 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

Exchange rates:
forints (HUF) per US dollar –
227.8 (2013 est.)
225.1 (2012 est.)
207.94 (2010 est.)
202.34 (2009)
171.8 (2008)

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