(HU) Szintentartásra volt elég a tavalyi év

Gross domestic product of Hungary decreased by 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and by
2.5% when adjusted for calendar effects, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. In 2008, performance of the country arose by 0.5%.

The value added of commodity producing
branches (agriculture, industry and construction) grew by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. The
performance of the industry decreased by 8.5%, while instead of the
trend previously observed in the value added of construction, it
raised by 2.7% mainly due to some works of great value in highway
construction and utility projects realized at the end of the year.
In 2008, the value added of commodity
producing branches grew by 4.2%, at a greater pace than the average of the national economy, due to
the outstanding growth (43.6%) in agriculture. Last year’s lower
performance and this year’s favorable results in crop production
were behind such an increase in agricultural production. The value
added of industry after the expand of the first quarters decreased by
0.3% reflecting the decline of the export oriented manufacturing in
the second half of the year. The gross value added of services
decreased by 4.2% in the fourth quarter of 2008. Among services, the
highest decline can be observed in the performance of financial
intermediation, real estate, renting and business activities (-7.8%)
because of the unfavorable market processes. Inside this, there was a
considerable decrease in financial corporations’ performance
provided by the credit institutions on the one hand (e.g. granted
less loans) and on the other hand some activities of credit
institutions resulted in losses (e.g. trading securities). In case of
insurance corporations the number of insurance contracts fell and the
property income as a part of their gross value added was diminished.
The value added of trade, repair, hotels and restaurants decreased by
5.2% in connection with the moderate decline of household consumption
expenditure. The fall in the performance of transport, storage and
communications (3.0%) is reflected by the decline in the value added
of the industry. The performance of public administration, education, health and social work
increased by 0.7% in comparison with its low value added in the previous year. In 2008, the performance
of services decreased by 1.2%. Among services, the highest decline
can be observed in the field of financial intermediation, real
estate, renting and business activities (-2.3%) and other community,
social and personal service activities (-2.3%).
Looking at the expenditure side of GDP,
in the fourth quarter of 2008, final consumption of households
decreased by 3.3%, due to the strong decrease of household final
consumption expenditure by 4.4%. Final consumption of government
diminished by 9.5%, due to the high level of previous year’s basis
(It consists of value of Gripen fighters’ last group). Actual final
consumption decreased by 4.2%.
Gross fixed capital formation after
last quarters decreasing keep going down by 2.7%, due to the downfall
of investments in manufacturing, in transport, storage and
communications and in real estate activities. The domestic use was on
the decrease by 2.6%.
In terms of external trade improving,
the volume of exports and imports went down up by 7.8% and 8.2%. Within these the exports and
imports of products declined by 9.8% and 10.9%, while the exports of
services grew by 3.3% and imports of services rose by 7.3%.
Looking at the whole year of 2008 final
consumption of households decreased by 0.1%, due to the decrease of household final consumption
expenditure by 0.7%. Social transfer in kind from government rose by
2.9% while one from non-profit institutions serving households
decreased by 2.8%. Final consumption of government diminished by
2.1%, while actual final consumption decreased by 0.4%. Gross fixed
capital formation went down by 2.6%, while the domestic use was on
the decreased by 0.1% according the first preliminary estimation of
2008 annual data.
In terms of external trade improving,
the volume of exports and imports were up by 4.6% and 4.0%. Within these the exports and imports of
products rose by 4.6% and 3.2%, while the exports of services grew by
4.3% and imports of services rose by 8.6%.