Hungary's economy is improving, retail sales are up and the construction industry has dramatically increased the amount of dwellings throughout the country.
In March 2017, the volume of sales in retail shops increased by 3.6 percent and, mainly due to Easter, by 5.6 percent adjusted for calendar effects compared to the same period last year.
According to KSH, the volume of sales, adjusted for calendar effects, rose by 3.8 percent in specialized and non-specialized food shops, by 8.2 percent in non-food retail shops and by 2.3 percent in automotive fuel retailing.
In January–March 2017, the volume of sales – also according to calendar adjusted data – was 3.4 percent higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, in the construction industry, during the first quarter of 2017, 2,061 new dwellings were built, 47 percent more than a year earlier. The total number of issued dwelling construction permits and simple declarations was 9,525 or 89 percent more than in the first quarter of 2016.