The economic well-being of the population improved significantly in August, according to Századvég

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 08. 25. 12:26

According to the August 2025 survey by Századvég Konjunktúrakutató Zrt., the economic expectations of the population improved significantly (+4.0 index points), while the economic sentiment of companies also strengthened (+1.4 index points) compared to the value measured in the previous month.

Thus, the population index, interpreted on a scale between -100 and +100, improved to minus 15.2, and the value of the corporate indicator to minus 15.1 index points – the research institute told MTI on Monday. In the August survey, the most marked positive change was the improvement in the general economic sentiment of households, while the improvement in expectations regarding the future development of the forint exchange rate of the euro for companies – they indicated. Presenting the survey, Századvég highlighted that the fact that the economic sentiment index remained in negative territory was largely caused by the prolonged Russian-Ukrainian war and the uncertainty generated by economic sanctions.

A significant improvement in economic expectations is expected if the war ends, inflation stabilizes within the central bank’s target range (between 2-4 percent), the interest rate environment becomes even more favorable, the European economy can strengthen, and prices on energy markets also develop permanently low prices, they said. All four sub-indexes of the consumer confidence index strengthened in August this year, compared to the previous month’s value. The most favorable is still the perception of the employment situation, whose value increased from minus 6.7 in the previous month to minus 1.9, the perception of the economic environment in August from minus 33.0 in the previous month to minus 26.1, while the sub-index indicating the perception of inflation processes improved from minus 67.8 to minus 63.3.

Meanwhile, the perception of the financial situation also strengthened further from minus 11.1 to minus 9.9. The household economic survey showed a significant positive shift in the assessment of the general economic situation in August 2025, compared to July. To the question “are things going in a better or worse direction in Hungary today?”, respondents gave a much more favorable answer in August. The “definitely in a worse direction” category was selected by 34.8 percent of respondents (down from 42.1 percent in July), and the “more or less in a worse direction” option by 17.8 percent (0.5 percentage points less than the previous month). The answer “both good and bad in some respects” was selected by 27.1 percent of respondents, which is a 5.4 percentage point increase compared to the previous month. The summary stated that 12.5 percent (+0.8 percentage points) said things were going “more or less in a good direction”, while 6.9 percent (+1.0 percentage points) said things were going “definitely in a good direction”. Examining the population’s economic sentiment by age group, an increase was measured in all five categories.

A notable increase of 4.1 index points was measured in the 18-29 age group, and 6.9 index points in the over-60 age group. The researcher measured an increase of 2.2 index points in the 30-39 age group, 2.2 index points in the 40-49 age group, and 2.4 index points in the 50-59 age group. Thus, the most favorable economic perception of those over 60 is with minus 10.8 index points, while the most unfavorable is that of those aged 50-59, who perceived an economic outlook of minus 22.3 index points.