World Grain - February 2022 - 18

COUNTRY FOCUS
KEY FACTS
FOCUS ON
HUNGARY
Country modernizing agriculture
and food supply sectors
by Chris Lyddon
Hungary, a land-locked European Union (EU) member state in
central Europe, is self-sufficient in grain for flour milling, with
the capacity to export to the rest of the EU or to third countries.
As part of the EU, it is preparing to shift the focus of its farm
policy to achieve climate and environmental aims as part of the
European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy that forms
part of it.
In its Jan. 13 Grain Market Report, the International Grains
Council (IGC) put Hungary's total 2021-22 grains production at
13.9 million tonnes, unchanged from the estimate it produced on
Nov. 18, 2021, down from 15.3 million in 2020-21.
Wheat production was put at 5.3 million tonnes, revised up
from a previous figure of 5.2 million and up on the 5 million
produced the previous year.
Hungary's maize (corn) output is estimated at 6.4 million
tonnes, revised down from the previous estimate for 2021-22 of
6.5 million and down from the 2020-21 crop of 8.3 million tonnes.
Barley output is put at 1.7 million tonnes, an unrevised estimate
that is up from 1.4 million the previous year.
The IGC's latest estimate for Hungary's 2021-22 rapeseed crop
is 700,000 tonnes, revised down from an earlier figure of 900,000,
which also was the 2020-21 production total.
As part of the reform of the European Union's
Common Agricultural Policy, Hungary
had to produce a national strategic
plan for its farm sector, through
2027, by a Dec. 31, 2021, deadline,
which the country's government
met.
" We're modernizing the
agriculture and food supply
sectors that are the backbone
of the rural economy,
while preserving the
natural values of our created
world, allowing for an
improved quality of life for
people in the countryside, and
providing support to small- and
medium-sized farms, " Minister
of Agriculture István Nagy said in
18
Capital: Budapest
Population: 9,728,337 (July 2021 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 37.2%, Calvinist
11.6%, Lutheran 2.2%, Greek Catholic 1.8%, other
1.9%, none 18.2%, no response 27.2% (2011 est.)
Location: Central Europe, northwest of Romania.
Government: Parliamentary republic. Chief of
state: President Janos Ader (since May 10, 2012);
head of government: Prime Minister Viktor Orban
(since May 29, 2010).
Economy: Hungary has transitioned from a centrally
planned to a market-driven economy with
a per capita income approximately two-thirds of
the EU-28 average. However, in recent years the
government has become more involved in managing
the economy. Budapest has implemented
unorthodox economic policies to boost household
consumption and has relied on EU-funded
development projects to generate growth. Following
the fall of communism in 1990, Hungary
embarked on a series of economic reforms, including
privatization of state-owned enterprises
and reduction of social spending programs, to
shift from a centrally planned to a market-driven
economy, and to reorient its economy toward
trade with the West. These efforts helped to spur
growth, attract investment, and reduce Hungary's
debt burden and fiscal deficits. Economic
policies instituted during the 1990s helped position
Hungary to join the European Union in
2004. Hungary has not yet joined the euro-zone.
Hungary suffered a historic economic contraction
during the global economic slowdown in
2008-09 as export demand and domestic consumption
dropped. Since 2010, the government
has backpedaled on many economic reforms
and taken a more populist approach toward
economic management. To further boost household
consumption ahead of the 2018 election,
the government embarked on a six-year phased
increase to minimum wages and public sector
salaries, decreased taxes on foodstuffs and services,
cut the personal income tax from 16% to
15%, and implemented a uniform 9% business
tax for small and medium-sized enterprises and
large companies. Systemic economic challenges
include pervasive corruption, labor shortages,
widespread poverty in rural areas, and a heavy
reliance on Russian energy imports.
GDP per capita: $31,000 note: data are in 2017
dollars (2020 est.); inflation: 3.3% (2019 est.); unemployment:
3.45% (2019 est.).
Currency: Forints (HUF): 314 forints equal 1 US
dollar (Jan. 20, 2022).
Exports: $123.83 billion note: data are in current
year dollars (2020 est.): cars and vehicle parts,
packaged medicines,
spark-ignition
engines,
video displays, broadcasting equipment (2019).
Imports: $120.25 billion note: data are in current
year dollars (2020 est.): cars and vehicle parts, integrated
circuits, crude petroleum (2019).
Agriculture: 3.9% (2017 est.) of GDP and 4.9% of
the labor force.
Internet: Code: .hu; 8.01 million (2021 est.) users.
Source: CIA World Factbook
February 2022 / World Grain / World-Grain.com
http://www.World-Grain.com
World Grain - February 2022

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