Are Hungarians investing more money outside of the country?

There is a common claim nowadays that more and more Hungarians are keeping their money abroad, or at least in foreign currency. A new investigation was started to verify if this is true or not.

Official data from the Hungarian National Bank (MNB) confirms that the volume of foreign savings among the Hungarian population increased significantly over the past two years. However, the proportion of these savings remains below 10 percent. The strengthening of the Hungarian forint at the beginning of the year also may have disappointed many, writes Portfolio.

Domestic market

Due to high inflation, there has been a significant reshuffling in the Hungarian savings market in the first quarter of this year. The Hungarian population has shifted their savings from current account deposits and cash towards government securities and investment funds. While more money flowed into these investment accounts, the intensified search for yield has not been enough to preserve the stability of savings.

Foreign markets

We have less information on savings held in foreign currency or abroad. However, it can be observed how much money the population holds in:

1. foreign bank deposits
2. foreign bonds
3. foreign investment funds
4. foreign currency

In this regard, there has been a significant growth in 2021 and 2022. In the former for investment funds and in the latter for deposits, bonds, and currency.