The productivity of Hungarian companies is worse than anywhere else in the EU

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 02. 11. 12:03

According to a recent analysis by GKI Economic Research Ltd., Hungary’s manufacturing exports showed significantly lower growth than those of the countries in the region between 2010 and 2023. While Hungarian exports and related imports doubled in euros, manufacturing exports increased 2.9 times in Poland, 2.4 times in the Czech Republic, and 2.3 times in Slovakia, the Telex article points out.

The Visegrad countries are export-driven economies; even Poland, which has the largest domestic market, exported 58 percent of its GDP in 2023. In Hungary, this ratio is 81 percent, but the performance of manufacturing exports still lags behind its competitors.

One of the key elements of competitiveness is the level of wage costs. The depreciation of the forint has helped exporters by reducing domestic wage costs in euros. For exporting multinationals, labor costs measured in euros are an important factor, so changes in regional currency exchange rates play a key role in the export performance of individual countries.