FDI Inflow To Hungary Hits New High
2023. 01. 31.
Foreign investors’ trust placed in the Hungarian economy is unbroken as evidenced by an investment volume of EUR 6.5 billion in 2022, an all-time high in the history of investment promotion in Hungary. In total 92 large FDI deals were closed to create some 15,000 new jobs and retain tens of thousands of them. Eastern countries continue to play a crucial role as South Korea accounted for the largest FDI volume for the third time after 2019 and 2021. As far as sectors are concerned, automotive, electronics and food maintained a dominant position. In turn, up to 20 projects and thousands of jobs could be linked to high-added value service sector investments which also points to Hungary’s effort to shift her focus to knowledge-intensive developments.
The total annual value of projects guided by the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency has never been higher than in 2022. Investment volume hit the EUR 6.5 billion mark whereby all together 92 deals were closed to create 15,083 jobs. The geographical origin of inflowing FDI is balanced as well, since 48% and 42% of investments stemmed from the East and the West, respectively. Hungarian companies, in turn, were responsible for 10% of the investment volume.
South Korea maintained its leading position as largest investor as it invested the most on an annual basis in 2022 for the third time after 2019 and 2021. The Asian country provided nearly EUR 2.8 billion for investment purposes, and it excelled in terms of project numbers and job creation, too. Every fourth new workplace and every tenth project could be linked to South Korean companies. Battery separator film manufacturer W-Scope alone invested EUR 720 million.
HIPA CEO István Joó highlighted.
Apart from that Switzerland, France, Japan and China were among the most eager nations to invest in Hungary. Capital rich Hungarian companies were very much active as well as they accounted for over 11% of new jobs. Their share in terms of the number of projects was even more significant at close to 20%. As far as sectors are concerned, electronics, automotive and food lead the pack. Electronics attracted 43% of the total investment volume most of which is linked to e-mobility. Automotive and food represent 37% of all projects and over 44% of new jobs.
Mr. Joó added.
The geographical distribution of projects was balanced: three counties welcomed 8 and 7 of them each. On the other hand, the location of over 90% of positive projects in 2022 was in the countryside, and at least one deal was closed in nearly every single county. This carefully targeted approach can help those regions catch up in terms of development that lag behind for now.
