Country Comments

Hungary’s population has been declining gradually since 1980 and has seen an overall population decline of about one million citizens or about 10%. Even with this trend Hungary is still unsustainable and would benefit ecologically from continuing decrease. However,Hungary’s president in 2019 started subsidizing large families. Among numerous incentives personal income tax is waived for women who give birth to 3 children and raise them.

The OECD’s third Environmental Performance Review of Hungary says more also needs to be done to address air and water pollution. The level of exposure in Hungary to air pollution from particulate matter is among the highest of OECD countries. Nearly four in 10 people have poor quality drinking water, and almost a third of the population is not connected to public wastewater treatment facilities.

Hungary has made good progress on biodiversity. The conservation status of most habitats and species has improved in recent years and Hungary now protects over 22% of its land and inland waters, well above internationally agreed targets.

Human Rights Watch reports amidst a disturbing global uptick of domestic violence during Covid-19 lockdowns, Hungary has taken a leap backwards in protecting women having blocked ratification of a regional treaty on violence against women.