2022 SME COUNTRY FACT SHEET

HUNGARY
Brief introduction

 In 2021, Hungarian SMEs achieved strong growth in value added (10.9%) and employment
SME DEVELOPMENT 2020-2021
(2.5%). Large enterprises grew even faster, with growth rates of 17.5% and 5.9%, NUMBER OF
respectively. ENTERPRISES +4.2%
 The digital ecosystem is one of the few ecosystems in Hungary that grew in terms of value
added in both 2020 and 2021, at 3.6 % and 8.4% respectively. SME employment in the NUMBER OF
digital ecosystem increased significantly by 4.7% in 2021, following a decline of 0.5% in
2020.
PERSONS
EMPLOYED
+2.5%
 Based on data from early 2022, it was expected that this year SME value added and SME
employment in Hungary would continue to grow by 8.0% and 1.3% respectively, but Russia’s
war of aggression against Ukraine will affect these estimates. VALUE ADDED +10.9%
SMEs in the ‘non-financial business sector’. Estimates produced by JRC.

ENTERPRISES
ENTERPRISES PERSONS
PERSONS EMPLOYED
EMPLOYED VALUE ADDED
VALUE ADDED
NUMBER SHARE NUMBER SHARE € BILLION SHARE

SMEs 1 976 404 67.4%

673 524 99.9% 43.2 54.1%
(0 -249 persons employed)

LAR GE E N TE R P R IS E S 32.6% 45.9%

996 0.1% 954 512 36.7
(250+ persons employed)
The data for 2021 are estimates produced by JRC, based on 2008-2019 figures from national and Eurostat databases.

SME-RELATED STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES

SME-RELATED STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES
KEY STRENGTHS
 While the corporate loan portfolio grew modestly in Hungary, SME
lending grew dynamically in Q2 2021. The annual growth rate of SME
loans was 21% in June 2021. This increase was substantially
supported by the Funding of Growth Scheme Go!
 The mobility – transport – automotive ecosystem generated strong
recovery growth in 2021, with growth rates in SME value added of 8.8
% and in SME employment of 1.6 %, after declining by 7.4 % and 4.0
%, respectively, in 2020.
 Although one third of companies face labour shortages Hungary
performs well in terms of enterprises employing persons with ICT
specialist skills at 27.32% compared with the EU average 17.63%
OTHER KEY SME-RELATED BRIEF INSIGHTS
According to the latest data published by the Hungarian
Central Statistical Office, SME exports decreased by 4%
from 2019 to 2020. Export activities remained
concentrated in Hungary with only 6% of Hungarian SMEs
engaged in export activities.
Hiventures, the biggest Hungarian venture capital fund
(member or Hungarian Development Bank) provide funds
worth HUF 80.4 billion (€220.88 million) for innovative and
scalable micro, small and medium-sized enterprises that
have been operating for less than 5 years as of 2021. It
provides unique, multi-stage funding solutions for
domestic enterprises in their pre-seed, pre-seed+, seed
and growth stages.
The SME Performance Review monitors SME-related developments across the EU.
For more information, please see: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-strategy/performance-review_en
KEY CHALLENGES
 Hungarian firms are often in the low value-added stage of global supply
chains, focused on ‘midstream activities which explains the poor
performance of their productivity and make them particularly vulnerable
to value chain disruptions. Moreover, they face labor shortages: 33%
of firms report problems finding the adequate workforce compared to
14% of the EU.
 Hungary is an emerging innovator and its performance relative to the
EU has decreased according to the 2021 edition of the European
Innovation Scoreboard. Total R&D intensity reached 1.62 % in 2020,
still below the target of 1.8 % initially set.
 According to Digital Economy and Society index 2021 only 46% of
SMEs have at least a basic level of digital intensity, compared with a
60% average for the EU, and the adoption of key digital technologies
(big data, AI and cloud) is low. To foster the digital transformation of
SMEs, more, and more effective, support is necessary.

One third of SMEs are already facing serious labour shortages,
according to the latest results of the K&H SME Confidence
Index carried out in Q3 2021. This proportion was 26% in Q1 of
2021. Thus, for 2022, the wages of those working in micro,
small and medium-sized enterprises are expected to increase
again at the same pace as before COVID-19. Medium-sized
enterprises and agricultural companies plan to increase wages
by 7.5-9.2%.
According to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and
Industry, the significant increase of energy prices (price of
crude oil, natural gas, and electricity costs) creates huge
obstacles for Hungarian SMEs. Some SMEs cannot increase
their prices to cover their increasing production costs. Thus, it
will push about 21,000 SMEs to bankruptcy in Hungary.