He previously drew attention to the fact that “there is a regional drama taking place in Hungary.” At the Economics Conference Minister of Public Administration and Regional Development.
The economic newspaper has just published itAccording to data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH), how healthy is the head of the department? Good examples are: two regions in Hungary (Northern Hungary and North Great Plain) where the average GDP per capita level of development is only half of the EU average. The figure of 52% in southern Transdanubia and 55% in the Southern Great Plain is much lower than this.
As the Index previously wrote, salaries for Hungarians continued to increase in July. The average net salary is now about 440,000 Hungarian forints, while the increase in real wages, that is, the increase in the purchase value of salaries, is close to 10 percent. Although the July earnings data, according to analysts, provided a positive surprise, due to the significant decline in real wages from the previous year, it is seen as a catch-up in wages. The government stated that wage negotiations are currently underway between employers and employees.
However, Hungary's fragmentation is most evident in average income.
The average gross income of full-time workers was 636,700 HUF, and the average net income calculated taking allowances into account was 438,400 HUF. Average gross salaries increased by 13.9 percent, average net salaries by 13.7 percent, and real salaries by 9.4 percent compared to the previous year. It is also worth noting that The average value of gross profits reached 524,100 HUF, and the average value of net profits reached 362,900 HUF, which incidentally exceeded the same period of the previous year by 16.5 and 16.6 percent, respectively.
The “regional drama” is clearly visible
The economic paper has now examined the average net income of full-time employees, without deductions, broken down by county. This is also very important given the depressing demographic data – Index has previously written about the demographic data here. Accordingly, it was found that full-time employees in Budapest earn 512,292 HUF without deductions, which is above the national average of 422,112 HUF. In the capital, compared to the same period the previous year, this represents an increase of 13 percent, while the national average rose by 14 percent. But outside Budapest's borders, the situation is not so rosy.
Average net income can be broken down by province as follows (first half of 2024, in Hungarian forint):
- Budapest: 512292,
- Pests: 386734,
- Al-Fajr: 409598,
- Komarom Esztergom: 419631,
- Vesprm: 377209,
- Gyor Moson Sopron: 251 453,
- Iron: 379,220,
- Zala: 339539,
- Parania: 357,060,
- Somogyi: 341723,
- Tolna: 392203,
- Borsod-Abaj-Zemplén: 340884,
- Fierce: 385339,
- Nograd: 327721,
- Hajdu-Bihar: 445 367,
- Iash-Nagykon-Zolnok: 063 342,
- Szabolcs-Szatmar-Berg: 050 308,
- Pax-Kiskun: 271 361,
- Vieques: 316224,
- Sungrad-Sanad: 363907,
- State total: 422,112.
All provinces in the country are only able to provide wages below the national average to those who live there. There is a county, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, where employees earn more than 200,000 HUF less than in the capital. Regionally, the Northern Great Plain performed the worst, at 339,879 HUF, also well below the median value of net earnings (362,900 HUF).
Hungary is catching up with the EU average, albeit by small steps, economically and politically, and Budapest is clearly the biggest beneficiary of Brussels' subsidies.
Tibor Navracsics said at Macronomx, the joint conference between IndaMedia and Economx.
Looking to the future, the Prime Minister said: Instead of a settlement-based development policy, we are trying to shift the focus to an area-based development policy. The Prime Minister also spoke about the presence of a kind of “regional drama” in the country, mostly affecting the Western Transdanubian regions.
(Cover photo: Tibor Navracsics on September 5, 2024. Photo: Bence Tövissi / Index)
