Digital Development: Hungary Still Lags Behind in EU

Hungary ranks 22nd out of the 27 EU Member States in the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022. Over the last few years, it progressed in line with the EU, the latest DESI country report states.

On Human capital, the country ranks 23rd, scoring 38 compared to the EU average of 46. 49% of individuals have at least basic digital skills, below the EU average of 54%. 3.1% of graduates studied ICT (EU average: 3.9%), and ICT specialists still represent a relatively low share of the workforce (3.9% versus 4.5% in the EU). A significant improvement in both ICT specialists and digital skills is crucial for the EU to reach the skills targets of the Digital Decade.

Hungary performs well on broadband Connectivity. It remained a leader in the take-up of at least 1Gbps broadband, as 22% of households subscribed to such a service in 2021 compared with 7.6% in the EU. The country scores above the EU average also on Overall fixed broadband take-up, 5G spectrum and Fixed very high capacity network coverage (VHCN). This is also important in light of the Digital Decade target of 100% coverage of all households by gigabit networks by 2030.

Although there was progress in the digitalization of enterprises in 2021, most Hungarian enterprises do not exploit the opportunities offered by digital technologies. 21% of the companies use an enterprise resource planning software to share information electronically (EU average: 38%), and 13% rely on social media (EU average: 29%2) or send e-invoices (EU average: 32%). The situation is similar for advanced technologies: on AI, cloud and big data, Hungary scores well below the EU average, too.

Uptake of these services ranged between 3% and 21% as opposed to the Digital Decade target of 75% by 2030. SMEs require a special policy focus, as only 34% of them have at least basic level of digital intensity (EU average: 55%), as opposed to the Digital Decade target of at least 90%.