Hungary

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Country summary

Capital

Budapest

Borders

Austria 366 km, Croatia 329 km, Romania 443 km, Serbia 166 km, Slovakia 676 km, Slovenia 102 km, Ukraine 103 km

Government type

parliamentary democracy

Population

9,905,596 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

-0.257% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

73.44 years[1]

Unemployment

10.8% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

51[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

46[3]

Doing Business ranking

47[4]


Hungary became a Christian kingdom in A.D. 1000 and for many centuries served as a bulwark against Ottoman Turkish expansion in Europe. The kingdom eventually became part of the polyglot Austro-Hungarian Empire, which collapsed during World War I. The country fell under Communist rule following World War II. In 1956, a revolt and an announced withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact were met with a massive military intervention by Moscow. Under the leadership of Janos KADAR in 1968, Hungary began liberalizing its economy, introducing so-called "Goulash Communism." Hungary held its first multiparty elections in 1990 and initiated a free market economy. It joined NATO in 1999 and the EU in 2004.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Forint (ISO code: HUF)
  • Central bank discount rate: 6.25% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 6.66% (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Stock of money (M1): $30.27 billion (31 December 2009)[1]
  • Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $40.7 billion (31 December 2009)[1]

Notable events:

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 48 044 47 885 53 190 66 502 84 326 102 076 110 195 113 006 138 757 154 668
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 68.650 61.003 60.206 60.638 62.286 66.122 68.972 70.223 69.385 73.850
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 38.143 37.343 37.053 36.290 35.714 35.744 35.551 35.811 37.948 40.655
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 44.946 40.724 41.242 43.552 43.081 42.314 42.716 44.086 42.884 45.020
Debt to revenue (years) 1.800 1.634 1.625 1.671 1.744 1.850 1.940 1.961 1.828 1.817

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 CIA - The World Factbook. "Hungary", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Hungary", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  3. Transparency International. "Hungary", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  4. Doing Business. "Hungary", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 367. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  6. Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 57. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-20.
  7. World Bank. "Hungary: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  8. World Bank. "Hungary: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  9. World Bank. "Hungary: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  10. World Bank. "Hungary: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.

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