We have grown used to large numbers in foreign trade statistics. We talk about export records, tens of billions of euros in exports, and trade balances. These are important indicators, but on their own they do not tell the whole story of how much value foreign trade actually creates for an economy.

Consider a simplified example.

An industrial machine manufactured in Hungary and exported for EUR 100,000 may contain electronics, raw materials, drivetrains or other components sourced abroad. At the same time, the design, manufacturing, assembly, programming, quality assurance, logistics and numerous related services may all take place in Hungary.

In foreign trade statistics, this appears as EUR 100,000 of exports.

From an economic standpoint, however, it also matters how much of that EUR 100,000 was actually generated as value added in Hungary.

EUR 81 Billion in Exports — But Made of What?

The structure of Hungarian exports is strongly industrial.

According to KSH data, between January and June 2026 the value of Hungarian merchandise exports totalled around EUR 81.2 billion. Within this, exports of machinery and transport equipment came to EUR 49.0 billion — meaning roughly 60 percent of total exports fell into this product category.

Road vehicle exports alone amounted to EUR 13.6 billion, exports of electrical machinery, apparatus and instruments came to nearly EUR 12 billion, and exports of office machines and automatic data-processing equipment reached EUR 8.6 billion. The euro export value of this last product group was more than double what it had been a year earlier.

These figures clearly illustrate Hungary's place in the European industrial division of labour. The country has significant export capacity in machinery, vehicles, electronics and other manufacturing sectors. While the share of domestic value added is structurally much higher in services exports (such as IT, logistics or business service centres), merchandise exports — the backbone of Hungarian exports — give us a much closer picture of reality.

Here it is worth asking a second question:

how much of the value of goods exported from Hungary is actually produced domestically?

The OECD's Trade in Value Added (TiVA) database provides an answer.

About EUR 50 of Every EUR 100 of Hungarian Exports Is Domestic Value Added

Traditional foreign trade statistics measure the value at which a product crosses a national border. TiVA, by contrast, attempts to trace the international value chain and separate the domestic and foreign value added embodied in a product's export value. The OECD's 2025 TiVA database covers 81 economies and 50 economic activities, currently providing comparable data up to 2022.

For Hungary, the result is notable.

According to OECD calculations, in 2022, 49.7 percent of Hungary's gross exports consisted of value added created abroad. This is significantly higher than the OECD average of 30.4 percent. In 2010, the same Hungarian figure stood at 46.5 percent.

Put differently: this calculation implies that roughly 50.3 percent of Hungarian exports consisted of domestic value added.

This does not mean, however, that exactly EUR 50.30 "stays in Hungary" from a specific Hungarian product exported for EUR 100. TiVA is a macroeconomic input-output model that traces the origin of value added across the entire economy and interconnected international production chains.

The indicator's significance lies more in showing how much a country's export performance relies on imported inputs, and how much domestic economic activity is linked to it.

The Difference Is Also Visible in International Comparison

The Hungarian figure becomes especially interesting when compared with other Central European export economies.

Based on OECD TiVA data for 2022, the domestic value-added share was approximately 74 percent in Germany, 66–67 percent in Austria and Poland, and around 59 percent in Czechia. Hungary's roughly 50 percent figure, however, is not unique in the region: Slovakia's domestic value-added share was somewhat lower still.

Naturally, different economic structures lie behind these differences. A larger economy with a broader domestic supplier and service base cannot be mechanically compared with a smaller, extremely open economy. A high import content is not, in itself, a sign of economic failure: the international division of labour is precisely built on companies and countries using each other's resources, technologies and specialisations.

For Hungary, however, the numbers point to an important development opportunity.

Namely, that we do not necessarily need to export only more. We need to add more value to what we export.

The Key Question Is Where We Sit in the Value Chain

A modern car or piece of electronic equipment can rarely be considered the product of a single country anymore. Its components, materials, software and technologies may come from several continents, while the product itself passes through manufacturing processes in numerous countries. It is therefore not, in itself, a problem if a Hungarian factory imports a significant volume of components.

The real question is at which part of the value chain Hungary is engaged.

It makes a difference whether a company performs only contract manufacturing or simple assembly, produces precision components, develops its own production technology, provides engineering services, writes software, conducts research and development, or brings its own product, patent and brand to international markets.

The greater the role of knowledge, technology, development and high-value-added services, the greater the economic value that can be linked to the same export revenue.

And this is not a role reserved only for multinational companies.

For Hungarian SMEs, it can represent a significant opportunity to evolve from a simple supplier into a higher-value-added partner within an international manufacturer's supply chain. The next step could be in-house development, engineering competence, specialised technology, or a service that is harder to replace on price alone.

Increasing domestic value added, therefore, does not mean that everything must be produced in Hungary. Such an ambition would be neither realistic nor necessarily economical in a modern global economy.

The goal, rather, is to perform increasingly valuable tasks within international value chains, here in Hungary.

That Is Why We Should Not Think Only in Terms of Export Volume

From the perspective of Hungarian export policy and corporate export strategy, it is worth asking two separate questions.

The first is the traditional one: How much do we export?

The second, however, is at least as important:

How much value do we create at home from what we export?

There is a significant difference between the two.

A country can increase its gross exports while simultaneously building an ever-larger share of imported raw materials and components into the goods it exports. This increases foreign trade turnover and creates production capacity, but does not necessarily increase domestically generated value added to the same extent.

Higher domestic value added requires a stronger supplier network, more productive companies, engineering and digital competencies, research and development, services, proprietary intellectual property, and internationally competitive Hungarian businesses.

OECD data also show just how important foreign markets are for Hungary. In 2022, 43.5 percent of the total value added created in Hungary was ultimately generated by foreign demand, compared with an OECD average of 34.6 percent.

This clearly illustrates that, for Hungary, exports are not simply one economic sector among many. External demand underpins a significant share of domestic economic performance.

Precisely for this reason, the goal is not to become less connected to global value chains.

The goal is to connect to them from a better position.

Achieving this requires, alongside production by large foreign companies in Hungary, an increasing number of domestic businesses possessing internationally marketable knowledge, technology, products or services.

Hungary's merchandise exports of more than EUR 81 billion in the first half of the year are, on their own, a substantial achievement. But the next stage of development may not necessarily be shown simply by how many more billions of euros we can add to that figure.

It will also be shown by how much Hungarian knowledge, development, supplier performance and entrepreneurial value stands behind the goods and services being exported.

Because, in the long run, the strongest export economy is not necessarily the one that moves the most goods across the border. It is the one that manages to create the most value at home from what crosses that border.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much did Hungary export in the first half of 2026? According to KSH data, between January and June 2026 Hungarian merchandise exports were worth around EUR 81.2 billion, roughly 60 percent of which came from exports of machinery and transport equipment.

What does domestic value added in exports mean? It shows how much of an exported product's value was actually created within a given country, as opposed to the portion embodied in components, raw materials or services sourced from abroad. The OECD measures this using the Trade in Value Added (TiVA) methodology.

What is Hungary's domestic value-added share in exports? According to the OECD's 2022 TiVA data, 49.7 percent of Hungary's gross exports consisted of value added created abroad, meaning the domestic value-added share was around 50.3 percent. This is significantly lower than the OECD average of 30.4 percent.

How does Hungary's figure compare with regional competitors? Germany's domestic value-added share is around 74 percent, Austria's and Poland's are 66–67 percent, and Czechia's is around 59 percent. Hungary's roughly 50 percent share is lower than these, but not unique in the region — Slovakia's share was even lower.

Why does increasing domestic value added matter, if a high import content is not inherently a problem? Because economic value — and with it a significant share of wages, profits and tax revenue — is created where the value added itself is generated. The greater the role Hungarian companies play in design, development, engineering and services, the greater the economic value linked to the same export revenue.