Company trends 2024: 11 thousand fewer companies: the company trends of 2024 in numbers

Last year remained a period of challenges for Hungarian partnerships. GDP growth is expected to remain below 1%, which was affected by the lack of EU funds, weak government and corporate investment, and the high interest rate environment compared to recent years. The situation of economic actors was made more difficult by the fluctuation of the forint exchange rate, the weak economic performance of the main export partner, Germany, and the decline in the automotive industry and battery production.

According to OPTEN data, the number of active companies decreased again, while economic uncertainty reduced the desire to establish a company. In 2024, 505.7 thousand partnerships were active, which is a 2.2% decrease compared to the previous year, when the number of operating businesses also decreased by more than 12 thousand companies.

The decrease in the number of companies particularly affected the manufacturing industry (2.8% decrease, more than a thousand companies) and the construction industry (3% decrease, almost 2 thousand companies), while the loss in the trade and motor vehicle repair sector exceeded 3 thousand companies (-2.9%). Administrative services and education also shrank, with a 2.8% decrease in both sectors.

The number of company formations continued to decline, with more than 24 thousand new businesses established in 2024, a decrease of almost 10% compared to the 2023 figure. At the same time, the number of company closures remained high, with more than 35,000 closed businesses, a slight decrease compared to the figure of more than 37,000 in 2023. It is particularly worrying that the number of companies closed through liquidation proceedings approached 18,000, indicating an increase in insolvency.

On the positive side, the number of closures through compulsory liquidation proceedings has decreased significantly, to below 6,000, compared to 8,000 in 2023. This may indicate a partial stabilization of the business environment or an improvement in the efficiency of official procedures. However, the number of companies closed through liquidation has decreased dramatically, with nearly 19,000 companies opting for an orderly closure in 2023, while this number has decreased to around 10,000 in 2024.