Hungary is the only EU country where construction costs have risen faster over the past decade, according to fresh Eurostat data published on Thursday 2026-06-25. The agency’s 2026 Key Figures on European Business show that between 2015 and 2025 residential building prices in Hungary climbed by 112 %, the steepest increase recorded in any member state. The next-highest rise, 89 %, was recorded in Cyprus, where costs also hit a record high in 2025 2026-06-25.

Industry analysts point to a combination of domestic and external pressures. The government’s decision to double tariffs on imported steel in 2024 has pushed up material bills despite attempts to phase in the increases gradually, the UK’s Financial Times reported on Thursday 2026-06-25. “The levies are already imposing punitive costs,” said a spokesperson for the Home Builders Federation. Eurostat’s figures also reflect sustained wage growth in Hungary’s construction sector, where average hourly earnings rose by 68 % over the same period, the sharpest jump in central and eastern Europe.

The surge in building costs comes as Hungary vies for the unenviable title of the EU’s poorest member. On Thursday, the weekly HVG published a fact-check showing that, depending on the indicator used, Hungary can simultaneously appear as both the bloc’s poorest country and a nation where poverty has “improved dramatically” 2026-06-25. The discrepancy stems from shifting definitions: headline GDP per capita places Hungary 24 % below the EU average, while a consumption-based poverty line ranks it closer to the median. “Politicians cite whichever series supports their narrative,” said Zsuzsanna Mucka, an economist at the Institute of Economic Research in Bratislava.

Across the continent, the pattern is uneven. In Germany, house prices rose by just 1.4 % year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, the slowest increase since 2013, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung 2026-06-25. Meanwhile, in Slovakia, real wages remain 22 % below the Czech level, a gap analysts liken to the price difference for an IKEA flat-pack chair, according to SME Spectator 2026-06-25.

Eurostat’s latest comparative data, released on Thursday, underscores that price levels alone do not tell the full story. A standard shopping basket in Iceland costs nearly four times as much as in North Macedonia, yet both countries rank outside the EU’s core 2026-06-25. For Hungary, the immediate challenge is clear: with construction inflation still running at double the EU average, the dream of affordable housing is receding faster than the statistics can be reconciled.

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Why Slovaks earn less than Czechs? Think of an Ikea chair The Czech Republic could reach the EU average within a decade. Slovakia may not get there for another 50 years.

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financial times · about 2 hours ago

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postimees · about 2 hours ago

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Nová zelená úsporám je zpět. Nízkopříjmové domácnosti dostanou dotaci, ostatní bezúročný úvěr Nová zelená úsporám je oficiálně zpátky. Od čtvrtečních 10.00 Státní fond životního prostředí znovu přijímá žádosti o podporu. Majitelé rodinných domů mohou žádat až o dva miliony korun formou bezúročného úvěru na komplexní rekonstrukci včetně zateplení, výměny kotle nebo instalace fotovoltaiky. Nízkopříjmové domácnosti mohou navíc získat dotaci.

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