Sectors

Agriculture Industry

Hungarian agricultural machinery factories mainly produce various soil working and plant protection machines and components and adapters for harvesting machines. The latter also plays an essential part in the export activities.

Although, machines made in Hungary only account for about 13-14 percent of the total domestic agricultural machinery supply, based on data published by the trade association (Megosz), 80 percent of agricultural machinery manufactured in Hungary is sold on export markets.

Hungary has a relatively strong position in the global seed market due to its favorable climatic conditions, strong traditions, GMO-free technology, highly qualified experts, and continuous innovation.

Construction and Environment Industry

Construction Industry

Hungarians are proud of their creativity. They are happy to talk at length about the list innovations linked to Hungarian scientists and inventors. The same applies to the results achieved by the construction industry.

Translucent concrete and glass concrete have gained extensive international recognition, but the reusable plastic shuttering is also a Hungarian invention.

Currently, the construction industry is one of the most dynamically expanding segments of the Hungarian economy, enjoying extensive government support, which helps construction companies expand their capacities and accelerate technological changes by facilitating new machinery purchases.

Today the construction industry plays an essential part in the export sector, with more and more Hungarian companies gaining popularity.

Environment Industry

One of the most important natural resources of Hungary is water. Hungary is one of the richest countries in Europe both in surface freshwater and in under surface geothermal waters. Within the environment industry another prominent area is the renewable and environmentally friendly energy production.

In the last decade Hungary has dedicated significant resources for the development of renewable energy sector. The biggest developments were implemented in biomass and solar-based energy production sectors, so nowadays there are several companies using the most up-to-date technologies. Renewable energy sources provide 13-14% of Hungary’s energy production, however, in some periods more than 20% of the energy production was provided by renewable energy sources.

Many contemporary technological solutions have been implemented in other areas of the environmental industry in recent years from wastewater treatment through waste recycling to coverage of public utilities of the country’s settlements.

Food Industry

The Hungarian food industry has favorable conditions, with 5.3 million hectares of its territory used for agricul­ture. This is an outstanding proportion in the EU, as it is 60% of the country’s total area. Due to its conditions, the Hungarian agriculture sector holds a traditionally strong position, and the country has been dubbed as ‘the pantry of Europe’.

Based on 2018 data, food businesses’ performance con­tributed 2.2% to the GDP, which makes it the third biggest processing sector in Hungary. Altogether, 5,400 food busi­nesses are in operation, with about 100,000 direct em­ployees. The Hungarian food industry processes 65% of all domestic production.

First in the EU, the ban on cultivating genetically mod­ified crops is laid down in the Hungarian Constitution. High quality, strict control requirements, GMO-free agri­cultural cultivation, and excellent expertise are a major competitive advantage for Hungarian companies on the foreign markets.

Health Industry

The long-established Hungarian healthcare sector, which dates back to over 100 years, is recognized all over the world. Its reputation was cemented by entrepreneurs whose companies operating in the first decades of the previous century would nowadays be called multinational organisations. Gedeon Richter is a prominent figure among them. He was one of the first people in the world who made a successful attempt to produce pharmacy products on an industrial scale. His prestige was reinforced by patented medicines known all over Europe and the world such as the disinfectant Hyperol that proved useful in World War I and the antipyretic drug Kalmopyrin.

As far as Hungarian medical research is concerned, Albert Szent-Györgyi is a household name as the winner of the Nobel Prize for discovering vitamin C. Furthermore, Georg von Békésy, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for his research on the function of the cochlea, also started his scientific endeavours in Hungary.

ICT Industry

Without Hungarians, IT might not even exist. John von Neumann is considered the father of modern computers.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector is a crucial area in today’s economy all across Hungary. Its production value provides 5 percent of the country’s GDP. More than 4 percent of active employees work in the field of the digital economy. The amount of goods and services provided by the sector accounts for 13 percent of Hungary’s national export. The continuous and dynamic, double-digit yearly upturn observed in the digital economy greatly exceeds the country’s GDP growth rate.

The Hungarian ICT sector has key competences in several areas, most importantly, smart city and traffic, energy management, health services, agricultural, banking and enterprise software solutions, security printing, and cybersecurity software solutions.

Mechanical engineering and metal working

Hungary owns several mechanical engineering patents since the 19th century.

Just to mention a few:

Donát Bánki and János Csonka invented the carburetor for stationary engines.

József Galamb was not just the inventor of many parts of the Ford Model T, but also the co-developet of the assembly line, which was the key easing factor of the manufacturing process in mass production in the whole world.

Hungary still boasts a remarkable pool of intellectual capital, that is certified by internationally recognized education and provides substantial engineering expertise in all fields.

The country is also home to subsidiaries of many world famous global companies, because these can take advantage of the benefits of geographical proximity, highly developed logistics, utilities, infrastucture, and the favorable economical-political decisions, which encourage further investments.

That is partly the reason why the Hungarian automotive industry is the fastest growing sector of the economy, also being the leader of Central Eastern Europe’s premium car production.

Mechanical engineering has undergone a quantitative and qualitative change in recent years.

The highly automated manufacturing processes and innovative technologies provide that metalworking, processing industry machinery , farm machinery and grain technology could become this prominent.

Now, more than 90% of the production of mechanical engineering enterprises is oriented towards foreign markets.

Whether it is a unique construction or a mass-produced machine, we have the talent and the material to build it!