Hungría Actividad económica March 2023

Hungría: Industrial activity contracts at softer pace in March

According to preliminary data, industrial output dropped 4.0% year on year in March (February: -4.6% yoy).

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, industrial output rose 0.2% in March (February: +0.3% mom). Meanwhile, annual average industrial production growth fell to 3.4% in March (February: +4.1%).

Commenting on the outlook, Peter Virovacz and David Szonyi, economists at ING, stated:

“Overall, the industrial performance in the first quarter of this year (-4% QoQ drop) supports our expectation that the economy will continue to remain in technical recession in the first quarter of 2023. For the last three months, the bleak industrial performance was driven by weak domestic demand, along with some export hiccups. However, there is no doubt that the latter could still be able to make some positive contribution to overall GDP, especially in services exports. In our view, weak household consumption activity, coupled with grim industrial performance in the first quarter will certainly be a significant drag on growth, hence our expectation of a continuation of the technical recession.”