Cautious Upturn in Retail

Hungarian retail continued to see slow, fluctuating growth in 2025, but this was by no means explosive; rather, it was a cautious upturn. Domestic stores are not the main beneficiaries of the increase in household consumption demand, as a significant portion of the additional consumption goes to services or online retailers, which are not fully reflected in domestic statistics, according to an analysis by the economic news portal portfolio.hu.

Food retail has shown above-average growth, but it is questionable how much of a success this can be considered given the continued existence of the margin cap. Based on the government's communications, the regulation may remain in place for the longer term. The sector as a whole is overshadowed by the continuing decline in the number of small shops, while tax changes may have brought a temporary upturn in turnover.

Hungarian retail continued its slow growth trajectory last year, which has characterized the sector since 2024. Although the increase is not uniform — it is rather zigzagging and not particularly steep —, overall, it shows that the growth in real income of the population is already providing sufficient purchasing power for sales to expand.

As a result, retail sales grew by 2.9% year-on-year between January and October.

Domestic physical retail is not the main beneficiary of the upturn in consumer demand. A significant part of the increase in consumption is reflected in services, foreign spending (primarily on travel), and online commerce, which is more difficult to measure.