Hungary’s construction sector recorded a sharp setback in May 2026, with output declining 10.7 per cent compared to the same month a year earlier, TradingEconomics.com reports. The drop followed a 2.6 per cent annual increase in April and represented the industry’s weakest performance since January.
The largest drag on the sector came from civil engineering, where production tumbled 21.9 per cent after expanding 13.9 per cent a month earlier. Road and railway construction was particularly weak, plunging 46.2 per cent and subtracting 38 percentage points from the civil engineering segment’s overall performance.
Building construction also remained in negative territory, although the pace of decline eased. Output fell 4.2 per cent year-on-year in May, improving from April’s 6.2 per cent contraction. A 12.4 per cent increase in specialized construction activities—the largest segment of the industry—helped soften the impact of a 19.1 per cent decline in building construction and a 34.9 per cent drop in civil engineering-related building activity.
Compared with April, seasonally adjusted construction output decreased 6.5 per cent in May, reversing the previous month’s 6.9 per cent increase.
During the first five months of 2026, the total volume of construction activity was 4.3 per cent lower than in the corresponding period of 2025.
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