Cost of Living in Hungary

Rent and housing costs

Most people in Hungary own their home. In 2025, 89.8% of people lived in a home their household owned, against 68.5% in the EU, and only 4.3% paid rent at market price, against 20.8% in the EU. Rents are still rising. The KSH rent index, which is based on advertised rents on ingatlan.com rather than rents actually paid, shows asking rents 5.0% higher nationwide in August 2026 than a year earlier and 5.2% higher in Budapest. Asking rents were 77% to 78% above their 2021 level in both. After inflation, they rose 3.7% nationwide in a year. No official national average rent in forints was available for this page, so we show these measures instead.

Few people spend a large part of their income on housing. In 2025, 5.3% of people lived in a household that spent more than 40% of its disposable income on housing, against an EU average of 7.6%. Among people below the poverty threshold the rate was 21.2%, against 29.0% in the EU.

Buying has become much dearer. The Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB), the central bank, puts the rise in house prices at 23.5% in 2025, or 19.0% after inflation, and says prices were 22.5% above the level its fundamentals model supports at the end of 2025. New homes in Budapest were on offer at an average of HUF 1.85 million per square meter in March 2026. KSH's house price index for the second quarter of 2026 was 10.2% above a year earlier and 1.4% below the first quarter. The latest quarters are preliminary.

Prices and inflation

Hungary is cheaper than the EU average overall. Eurostat put household consumption prices at 71.6 in 2025, with the EU at 100, up from 68.9 in 2024. Housing and energy were at 67.1 and transport at 82.7, while food was close to the EU level at 95.2. Restaurants and hotels jumped from 68.9 to 82.4.

Inflation is low. Consumer prices were 1.6% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier on the national index (CPI), and 2.1% on the harmonized index (HICP), against 3.8% in the EU. In 2025 prices rose 4.4% on average. Services are the main driver, up 4.9% in a year. Food was 1.3% cheaper, and 4.6% cheaper leaving out restaurant and canteen meals. Household energy cost 4.0% less, with gas down 11.0%. KSH publishes the October figures on 10 November 2026.

What households spend

KSH puts household consumption spending at HUF 2,165,108 per person in 2025, or about HUF 180,426 a month. This is an average over everyone in a household, children and pensioners included, from the household budget and living conditions survey. The 2025 figures are preliminary. Basic needs take more than half of it: food and non-alcoholic drinks, housing, household energy and transport made up 56.3% of spending in 2025. Average net income was HUF 2,992,279 per person that year, and real income per person rose 3.3%.

Transport, utilities and local taxes

Transport prices were at 82.7 against the EU average of 100 in 2025, and 3.9% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier, against 9.7% in the EU. Motor fuels cost 6.9% more than a year earlier. Public transport fares are set locally. In Budapest, a monthly pass from BKK, the city's transport authority, costs HUF 8,950 and a single ticket HUF 500. For the home, electricity, gas and other fuels were 2.6% more expensive in September 2026 on the harmonized index, against 8.2% in the EU; on the national index electricity rose 1.3% and gas fell 11.0%. No official national figure for household energy bills in forints or for local taxes was available for this page. Hungary's income tax is a flat 15%, as our guide to hiring in Hungary explains.

What it means for pay and hiring

Full-time employees in Hungary earned an average of HUF 705,014 gross a month in 2025, according to KSH. In August 2026 the average was HUF 740,620 gross, 8.4% more than a year earlier, and HUF 519,900 net. The median was HUF 611,400 gross. The minimum wage is HUF 322,800 a month in 2026, and HUF 373,200 for jobs that need at least secondary education. Pay is rising much faster than consumer prices, so real wages are growing. Rents and house prices are the exception, and candidates who rent in Budapest will look closely at the salary. See average salary in Hungary, the Hungary minimum wage, our guide to hiring in Hungary for employer costs, and the cost of living in Budapest.

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