An 11 percent increase in wealth sounds good, but according to Blochamps, it’s only the happiness of a narrow elite

Although according to recent statistics from the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), the value of the financial assets of Hungarian households increased by 11.2 percent to 115,805 billion forints in one year, while net financial wealth amounted to 98,734 billion forints after an 11.4 percent increase, this does not mean that families are generally doing better. “Looking behind the numbers, it is clear that even among the wealthy in the top wealth decile, only the wealth of the richest few thousand people is really growing,” said István Karagich, CEO of Blochamps Capital, a leading private banking market analyst firm. Blochamps’ previous analysis showed that over the past two decades, the top 10 percent of households – especially the top 1 percent – ​​have increased their wealth at an outstanding rate: the wealth of the richest 100 Hungarians (0.001 percent of the total population) accounts for more than 13 percent of the financial wealth of Hungarian households, up from just 2.5 percent in 2005. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the population is not experiencing any growth.

The current increase in total wealth shows a similar picture, to the detriment of average Hungarian households. The data series suggests that the increase in wealth above 11 percent reflects further wealth concentration rather than the growth of broad strata.

The details of the statistics further obscure the picture. One item in the data is the valuation of so-called “other ownership interests” – such as family company properties – which can significantly distort the overall picture. These are typically assets that are difficult to liquidate, and their market value is uncertain – let’s not forget that a significant proportion of businesses are forced enterprises – so the official estimate that the value of these companies would have increased by about 12 percent in one year is highly questionable. In fact, the increase in this part of households’ financial wealth is mainly wealth created on paper, through estimates, and is by no means liquid savings. This is supported by the fact that in the second quarter of 2025 – despite the improvement in domestic macroeconomic indicators – a decline is visible in this asset group. In other words, the extraordinary increase in corporate asset value of more than HUF 1,250 billion experienced in the first quarter of this year was followed by a correction in the second quarter, which suggests that the statistical increase at the beginning of the year was partly a one-off, nominal revaluation. If the methodology allows for such significant fluctuations on a quarterly basis, the question rightly arises: to what extent do the official data reflect the actual financial situation of households? – asks the Blochamps Capital expert.

The root of the problem is that the so-called other ownership interests themselves account for nearly 29 percent of household financial assets. Since the market value of these corporate interests is extremely uncertain and difficult to realize, the data is greatly distorted and shows a much more favorable picture of the financial situation of the population than it actually is.