K&H: the momentum of the service sector somewhat offsets the stagnation of industry

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 07. 25. 11:00

“The GKI’s newly published business climate index has decreased by 2 points since the last measurement. In a sectoral breakdown, service providers expect an improvement of 3.6 percent – this is a nice result, while industry is barely moving away from stagnation (0.3%). As usual, trade shows the most gloomy picture, which warns that the weakness of domestic demand is far from over. All this coincides with the latest measurement data of the K&H large company growth index, and we measured the prospects of individual sectors in a similar way.

Another interesting thing is that while the GKI report states that “no good news has arrived” from the industrial and service sectors, the construction industry remains more optimistic, and prices and investments are moving the least on the trade-construction axis. This carries a double message: on the one hand, there is a reserve in the service sector, and on the other hand, new strategies may be urgently needed in trade in order to maintain competitiveness.

Overall, we do not see a uniform recovery in the large corporate segment, but the current momentum on the service side may be an encouraging sign, which we at K&H definitely support from the financing side. At the same time, trade and industry must also prepare for the challenges of the next quarter – because if the internal dynamics do not pick up, a difficult second half awaits the Hungarian economy,” commented Tibor Bodor, head of K&H’s large corporate division, on the GKI’s July business climate index.