Romania surpassed Hungary in GDP per capita, and Romanians are far ahead of Hungarians in terms of consumption, writes Ákos Péter Bod, professor of economics at Corvinus University in Budapest and former governor of the National Bank of Hungary, in an analysis for Portfolio.hu. Portfolio.hu is the most popular news and economic analysis portal in this country and, more importantly, it is balanced in a state with a strongly polarized press.
That Romania surpasses us is not surprising, continues Ákos Péter Bod. The Hungarians were surpassed by the Romanians in terms of GDP per capita in 2023. Also, according to traditional performance indicators, the Hungarian economy is surpassed not only by most of the old EU members, but also by the new ones, which entered the Union 20 years ago years, together with Hungary: the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Estonia.
It is also known that the Polish economy has risen from its very low level and Hungary has caught up. However, the case of Romania is certainly different. If there was any certainty in the minds of Hungarians related to the rapid and confusing changes in the world, it is Hungary’s development in relation to its neighbors to the east and south.
Moreover, Romania and Bulgaria entered the EU later. Bulgaria is more distant, but Romania is a point of reference. Those who read the news should not be surprised that Romania is ahead of us because already last year the race was tight, although in Hungary household consumption and investments received a significant boost thanks to the elections. But that’s when the recession came. Hungarian GDP decreased by 1%, while Romania’s economy grew by over 2%.
But what Hungarians hear about the situation in Romania and what they read on the Internet about the Szeklerland do not reconcile with the GDP data. In such cases, the figures may be questioned. It is not easy to compare the economic performance of different states because there are many variables.
But if the consumption of households in Romania and Hungary is compared, the difference is so great that it can no longer be attributed to errors. Salaries and productivity can also be compared, but the picture does not change. Hungary’s significant advantage over Romania in terms of qualitative development no longer exists, the Hungarian economist notes.
Hungary is still the regional champion in the contribution of foreign companies to GDP, with a weight of 50%. In Slovakia, the share is 48%, in Romania 44%, in the Czech Republic 43% and in Poland 37%. But Hungary started from above, and meanwhile Romania’s economy experienced rapid internationalization and imports of technology and capital.
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