Hungary’s industrial output up 4.2 pc in June

Industrial output in June rose by an annual 4.2 percent in unadjusted terms, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in an first estimate on Tuesday.

Output increased by 3.1 percent based on data adjusted for the number of working days.

Compared with the previous month, seasonally and working-day adjusted output was up 1.2 percent in June.

In the first six months of the year, output was 3.5 percent higher than in the same period of last year.

Commenting on the data, State Secretary László György of the innovation and technology ministry told public television that the industrial output had grown more rapidly in Hungary than in any other central European country since 2014. The engine of growth this year is the electronic industry with a 53 percent annual growth rate, he said. Hungarian industry is changing structurally, he said, citing the expansion of the chemical industry (16.3 percent) and the rubber industry (11.8 percent) as examples.

The new BMW plant, which the car manufacturing giant announced to build in eastern Hungary, is alone expected to raise the country’s economic growth by 0.5-1 percentage point, he said.