The economy of Hungary is a high-income mixed economy, ranked as the 9th most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index. Hungary is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) with a very high human development index and a skilled labour force, with the 22nd lowest income inequality by Gini index in the world. The Hungarian economy is the 53rd-largest economy in the world (out of 188 countries measured by IMF) with $265.037 billion annual output, and ranks 41st in the world in terms of GDP per capita measured by purchasing power parity. Hungary has an export-oriented market economy with a heavy emphasis on foreign trade; thus the country is the 35th largest export economy in the world. The country had more than $100 billion of exports in 2015, with a high trade surplus of $9.003 billion, of which 79% went to the European Union (EU) and 21% was extra-EU trade. Hungary's productive capacity is more than 80% privately owned, with 39.1% overall taxation, which funds the country's welfare economy.
Top Sectors in Hungary
Infrastructure in Hungary
Hungary has 31,058 km of roads and motorways of 1,118 km. The total length of motorways has doubled in the last ten years with the most (106) kilometers built in 2006. Budapest is directly connected to the Austrian, Slovakian, Slovenian, Croatian, Romanian and Serbian borders via motorways. Due to its location and geographical features, several transport corridors cross Hungary. Pan-European corridors no. IV, V, and X, and European routes no. E60, E71, E73, E75, and E77 go through Hungary. Thanks to its radial road system, all of these routes touch Budapest. There are five international, four domestic, four military and several non-public airports in Hungary. The largest airport is the Budapest Ferihegy International Airport (BUD) located at the southeastern border of Budapest.
Agriculture in Hungary
Hungarian agriculture is virtually self-sufficient and due to traditional reasons export-oriented: exports related to agriculture make up 20-25% of the total. About half of Hungary's total land area is agricultural area under cultivation; this ratio is prominent among other EU members. This is due to the country's favorable conditions including continental climate and the plains that make up about half of Hungary's landscape. Hungary has several wine regions producing among others the worldwide famous white dessert wine Tokaji and the red Bull's Blood. Another traditional world-famous alcoholic drink is the fruit brandy pálinka. Mainly cattle, pigs, poultry and sheep are raised in the country. The livestock includes the Hungarian Grey Cattle which is a major tourist attraction in the Hortobágy National Park. An important component of the country's gastronomic heritage is foie gras with about 33,000 farmers engaged in the industry. Hungary is the second largest world producer and the biggest exporter of foie gras (exporting mainly to France). Another symbol of Hungarian agriculture and cuisine is the paprika (both sweet and hot types). The country is one of the leading paprika producers of the world with Szeged and Kalocsa being the centres of production. Hungary produced, in 2018, 7.9 million tons of maize (15th largest producer in the world); 5.2 million tons of wheat; 1.8 million tons of sunflower seed (8th largest producer in the world); in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products.
Automobile production in Hungary
Hungary is a favoured destination of foreign investors of automotive industry resulting in the presence of General Motors Magyar Suzuki (Esztergom), Mercedes-Benz (Kecskemét), and Audi factory (GyÅr) in Central Europe. 17% of the total Hungarian exports comes from the exports of Audi, Opel and Suzuki. The sector employs about 90,000 people in more than 350 car component manufacturing companies. Audi has built the largest engine manufacturing plant of Europe (third largest in the world) in GyÅr becoming Hungary's largest exporter with total investments reaching over â¬3,300 million until 2007. The plant delivers engines to carmakers Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat and also to Lamborghini. Daimler-Benz invests â¬800 million ($1.2 billion) and creates up to 2,500 jobs at a new assembly plant in Kecskemét, Hungary with capacity for producing 100,000 Mercedes-Benz compact cars a year. Opel produced 80,000 Astra and 4,000 Vectra cars from March 1992 until 1998 in Szentgotthárd, Hungary. Today, the plant produces about half million engines and cylinder heads a year.
Tourism in Hungary
One of Hungary's top tourist destinations is Lake Balaton, the largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, with a number of 1.2 million visitors in 2008. Hungary was the world's 24th most visited country in 2011. The Hungarian spa culture is world-famous, with thermal baths of all sorts and over 50 spa hotels located in many towns, each of which offer the opportunity of a pleasant, relaxing holiday and a wide range of quality medical and beauty treatments.