Hungary

Overall construction activity

In 2023, construction output was EUR 19.34 billion (7386.7 billion HUF) at current prices, 5.0% lower than in 2022. Within this, building construction decreased by 5.6%, and civil engineering by 3.8%. In 2023, there were 11.2% fewer contracts concluded, of which the value of building construction contracts was 16.0% lower, and the volume of civil engineering contracts was 4.4% lower. The value added of construction to GDP in 2023 was 5.6% lower than in the previous year. The volume of construction reduced the volume of GDP by 0.3 percentage points. 

In 2023, the volume of construction investments was 15% lower than in the previous year. 

At the end of December, the stock of contracts at construction enterprises decreased by 23.5%. Within this, the volume of orders for building construction fell by 20.2% and for civil engineering by 26.0%. 

Housebuilding

In 2023, 18,647 new dwellings were built, 9.2% less than in the previous year. The number of dwellings to be built under building permits and simple declarations issued was 21,501, 39% less than in 2022. Construction activity fell most in villages (-43%) and the capital (-41%), with 28% fewer permits issued in rural towns and 37% fewer in other towns.The proportion of dwellings built by natural persons fell from 39% to 36%, while those built by companies increased from 60% to 64% compared to 2022.

Of the new dwellings built, 46% were single-family dwellings, 45% were multi-family dwellings and 7.1% were residential parks. This represents an increase of 6 percentage points for multi-family dwellings and a decrease of 3 percentage points for single-family dwellings compared to the previous year.  

On the basis of new building permits issued, a total of 8732 dwellings were planned, 37% less than in 2022. The 6981 single-family dwellings planned represent 80% of all dwellings to be built.

Non-residential construction

The number of non-residential buildings planned was 4013, 16% less than a year earlier.