158 thousand businesses in Hungary at the end of 2008

New stores were opened in all regions of Hungary last year, with a total of 137 thousand sqare meter basic area. The size of the national basic area has been decreased by 229 thousand sqare meters.

According to the Central Statistical Office at the end of 2008, 158 200 businesses were operating in the country, 3 percent less than at the end of 2007. As a result of the strenghtening increasing rate since 2006, the size of the total Hungarian business network is on the 2001 level or below. The Hungarian retail network is characterized by intensive interchange. In 2008, 23 500 businesses started, while 27 800 were closed. Thirty-two percent of the terminated businesses were food stores, 64 percent were shops selling manufactured goods, the remaining portion were gas stations and car parts stores. The retail in Hungary is still characterized by fragmentation. At the end of 2008, two-third part of the total number of the economic organizations were firms with only one store. Their number was 70 600. Thirty-one percent has 2-5 shops. While the remaining 2 percent are the firms with 6 or more shops. It is a trend for years, that companies with only one shop closes most often.