That dollar amount results from a 20.7% increase from $124 billion in 2018.
Year over year, the total value of Hungarian exports rose 6% compared to $141.2 billion for 2021.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2022, the Hungarian forint depreciated by -37.9% against the US dollar since 2018 and fell -22.9% from 2021 to 2022. Hungary’s weaker local currency makes its exports paid for in stronger US dollars relatively less expensive for international buyers.
Hungary’s Most Valuable Export Customers
The latest available country-specific data shows that 71.4% of products exported from Hungary were bought by importers in: Germany (25.2% of the Hungarian total), Italy (5.7%), Romania (5.3%), Slovakia (5.1%), Austria (4.5%), Poland (4.3%), France (4.23%), Czech Republic (4.15%), Netherlands (3.6%), United States of America (3.5%), United Kingdom (3.2%) and Spain (2.6%).
From a continental perspective, 87.1% of Hungary’s exports by value was delivered to fellow European countries while 6.6% was sold to importers in Asia. Hungary shipped another 4.5% worth of goods to North America.
Tinier percentages went to Africa (0.7%), Latin America (0.6%) excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean, then Oceania (0.55%) led by Australia and New Zealand.
Given Hungary’s population of 9.73 million people, its total $149.6 billion in 2022 exported goods translates to roughly $15,400 for every resident in the landlocked European country. That dollar metric exceeds the average $14,500 per capita one year earlier during 2021.
Hungary’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Hungarian global shipments during 2022. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Hungary.
- Electrical machinery, equipment: US$37.5 billion (25.1% of total exports)
- Vehicles: $21.9 billion (14.7%)
- Machinery including computers: $21.6 billion (14.4%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $7 billion (4.7%)
- Mineral fuels including oil: $6.5 billion (4.3%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $6 billion (4%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $4.1 billion (2.8%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $3.1 billion (2%)
- Iron, steel: $2.2 billion (1.5%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $2.1 billion (1.4%)
Hungary’s top 10 exports generated about three-quarters (74.9%) of the overall value of its global shipments.
Mineral fuels including oil was the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 43.6% from 2021 to 2022. That product category was propelled by Hungary’s higher revenues from exported electricity and refined petroleum oils.
In second place for improving export sales was electrical machinery and equipment via a 7.7% advance.
Hungary’s shipments of articles made from iron or steel recorded the third-fastest gain in value, up by 7.4%.
The leading decliner among Hungary’s top 10 export categories was plastics both as materials and items made from plastic, pulled down by a -6.1% year-over-year drop.
The above data is presented at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to the more detailed four-digit HTS code level, Hungary’s most valuable export product is cars (8.1% of the European country’s total). Following that are automotive parts or accessories (5.2%), electric storage batteries (5%), computers including optical readers (3.2%), medication mixes in dosage (2.7%), phone devices including smartphones (2.6%), electrical energy (2.3%), television receivers, monitors and projectors (2.1%), piston engines (2%), then insulated wire or cable (1.8%).
Hungary’s Largest Trade Surpluses by Major Products
The following types of Hungarian product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports reflect the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Vehicles: US$8.9 billion (Down by -5% since 2021)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $6.1 billion (Up by 29.9%)
- Pharmaceuticals: $1.9 billion (Up by 61.9%)
- Cereals: $998.2 million (Down by -37%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: $925.5 million (Down by -3%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $812.8 million (Up by 21.1%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: $763.2 million (Up by 34.9%)
- Machinery including computers: $682.6 million (Up by 331.4%)
- Food industry waste, animal fodder: $630.3 million (Up by 7.6%)
- Animal/vegetable fats, oils, waxes: $613.1 million (Up by 18.5%)
Hungary has positive net exports notably in the international trade of cars, automobile parts or accessories, and motorcycles. In turn, these cashflows indicate Hungary’s strong competitive advantages under the vehicles product category.
Hungary’s Worst Trade Deficits by Major Products
Hungary racked up an overall -US$8.8 billion trade deficit in 2022, reversing its $2 billion trade surplus one year earlier for 2021.
Below are exports from Hungary that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Hungary’s goods trail Hungarian importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$17.3 billion (Up by 116.2% since 2021)
- Other chemical goods: -$2.3 billion (Up by 127%)
- Iron, steel: -$1.9 billion (Up by 22.1%)
- Articles of iron or steel: -$1.4 billion (Up by 3.9%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: -$1.2 billion (Up by 111%)
- Aluminum: -$1.1 billion (Up by 24.4%)
- Copper: -$779.7 million (Down by -8.9%)
- Paper, paper items: -$650.6 million (Up by 13.1%)
- Fertilizers: -$642 million (Up by 50.1%)
- Tanning, dyes, paints, varnishes, ink: -$503.6 million (Up by 9.8%)
Hungary has highly negative net exports and therefore deep international trade deficits for mineral fuels-related products, particularly crude oil and petroleum gas.
Hungarian Export Companies
Two Hungarian corporations rank among Forbes Global 2000. They are listed below.
- MOL Hungarian Oil (oil, gas)
- OTP Bank (regional financial institution)
Wikipedia also lists exporters from Hungary. Selected examples are shown below.
- Borsod Brewery (beverages)
- BorsodChem (chemicals)
- Ganz Works (automobiles)
- Lehel (household goods)
- Rába (automobiles)
- Richter Gedeon Co. (pharmaceuticals)
In macroeconomic terms, Hungary’s total exported goods represent 36.6% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2022 ($409 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 36.6% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2022 compares to 39.1% for 2021. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Hungary’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Note that these metrics also include a significant amount of re-exporting activity.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Hungary’s unemployment rate averaged 3.601% for 2022, down from 4.074% one year earlier in 2021 according to statistics from the International Monetary Fund.
Hungary’s capital city is Budapest.
See also Germany’s Top Trading Partners, Italy’s Top Trading Partners, Romania’s Top Trading Partners, Slovakia’s Top Trading Partners and Austria’s Top Trading Partners
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Hungary. Accessed on May 24, 2023
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on May 24, 2023
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (National Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on May 24, 2023
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on May 24, 2023
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 24, 2023
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 24, 2023
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on May 24, 2023
Wikipedia, Hungary. Accessed on May 24, 2023
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Hungary. Accessed on May 24, 2023
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on May 24, 2023
