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Central Europe
July 13, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 14
8.5mn in 20 years from 9.8mn at present and this would amongst others would lead to a slowdown in economic growth but also the collapse of Hungary's pay-as-you-go pension system.
Last year, 109,000 people, or 2.5% of the workforce, said they worked abroad. The number of Hungarians working abroad dropped by 7,000 over a year but this was still 29,000 higher than five years ago, according to KSH figures.
The majority of workers abroad were men aged between 25 and 44 with vocational diplomas and 85% worked in Austria, Germany, or the UK. Most left for abroad from the capital, western counties and from the poorer north-eastern regions.
The government claims that the trend has reversed and more people are coming back than leaving Hungary. The dynamic increase in wages and lower living costs has made some young
people decide to move back to Hungary, the government says.
One out of 20 people aged between 15 and 74 said they would be willing to move abroad to work in the next two years, the statistics office said. The largest group who said they would move abroad were single males and skilled workers aged between 20 and 39.
Among those who want to work abroad, 46% plan to go for more than two years and 14% have no intention of returning to Hungary.
The fact that four out of five Hungarians would not move even within the country for work signals the very low mobility of the workforce.
Despite freezing wages of fostered workers, there are still half a million inactive. Their lack of skills and willingness to work make them unlikely candidates to fill the gap.
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