Industrial output down 8.2 percent in June

Adjusted for the number of working days, output was down by 3.7 percent. There were two fewer work days in June 2024 than in the same month a year before.

Month on month, output fell a seasonally and working day-adjusted 0.5 percent.

Output fell in most manufacturing sector branches, with the exception of chemical material and product production and wood processing and paper product production, KSH said.

Between January and June, industrial output declined by 3.3 percent year on year.

Commenting on the data, the state secretary for industry policy and technology said that the full recovery of industry was hobbled by war-related ailments of Western industries leading to weak demand. Gergely Fabian said war-related expenses such as the military industry and aid funding were syphoning resources from economic development, adding that the war was also creating uncertainty, holding back investments.

Meanwhile, the foundations of Hungarian industry remained strong, as mirrored in the growth of real wages and the retail sector for 9 and 6 consecutive months, respectively, Fabian said in a statement. To bolster industrial output, the government is boosting domestic production with measures such as the Baross Gabor Re-Industrialisation Programme, with a 1,200 billion forint (EUR 3bn) credit line and loan support for SMEs, he said.