Doing Business 2014: Hungary Summary
Core Content Overview
The Doing Business 2014 report evaluates the ease of doing business in Hungary and 188 other economies, focusing on regulations affecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It provides quantitative indicators across 11 areas of the business life cycle, including starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency, and employing workers.
The report measures the ease of doing business through percentile rankings and distance to frontier (DTF), which shows how far an economy is from the best practices globally. Hungary ranks 54th out of 189 economies in the ease of doing business index, a slight decline from its 2013 rank of 52.
Main Indicators and Performance
| Indicator |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Starting a Business |
Rank: 59 |
Rank: 54 |
Regional Average: 70 |
New Zealand (1) |
|
Procedures: 4 |
Procedures: 4 |
|
|
|
Time: 5.0 days |
Time: 5.0 days |
|
|
|
Cost: 8.6% |
Cost: 8.7% |
|
|
|
Paid-in Capital: 9.4% |
Paid-in Capital: 9.4% |
Regional Average: 108 |
112 Economies (0.0%) |
| Dealing with Construction Permits |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 47 |
Procedures: 24 |
Procedures: 24 |
Regional Average: 88 |
Hong Kong SAR, China (1) |
| Time: 79.0 days |
Time: 79.0 days |
Time: 79.0 days |
|
|
| Cost: 9.2% |
Cost: 9.3% |
Cost: 9.3% |
Regional Average: 10.6% |
Qatar (1.1%) |
| Getting Electricity |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 112 |
Procedures: 5 |
Procedures: 5 |
Regional Average: 137 |
Germany (17) |
| Time: 252 days |
Time: 252 days |
Time: 252 days |
|
|
| Cost: 116.4% |
Cost: 116.9% |
Cost: 116.9% |
Regional Average: 10.6% |
Japan (0.0%) |
| Registering Property |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 45 |
Procedures: 4 |
Procedures: 4 |
Regional Average: 54 |
New Zealand (1.0%) |
| Time: 16.5 days |
Time: 16.5 days |
Time: 16.5 days |
|
|
| Cost: 5.0% |
Cost: 5.0% |
Cost: 5.0% |
Regional Average: 0.0% |
5 Economies (0.0%) |
| Getting Credit |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 55 |
Procedures: 35 |
Procedures: 35 |
Regional Average: 55 |
Malaysia (1) |
| Time: 395 days |
Time: 395 days |
Time: 395 days |
|
|
| Cost: 15.0% |
Cost: 15.0% |
Cost: 15.0% |
Regional Average: 18.0% |
Bhutan (0.1%) |
| Protecting Investors |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 128 |
Procedures: 2 |
Procedures: 2 |
Regional Average: 52 |
New Zealand (1) |
| Time: 2.0 years |
Time: 2.0 years |
Time: 2.0 years |
|
|
| Cost: 15% |
Cost: 15% |
Cost: 15% |
Regional Average: 10% |
Norway (1) |
| Paying Taxes |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 124 |
Procedures: 12 |
Procedures: 12 |
Regional Average: 113 |
United Arab Emirates (1) |
| Time: 277 hours |
Time: 277 hours |
Time: 277 hours |
|
|
| Cost: 277 hours |
Cost: 277 hours |
Cost: 277 hours |
|
|
| Trading Across Borders |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 70 |
Documents to Export: 6 |
Documents to Export: 6 |
Regional Average: 49 |
Singapore (1) |
| Time to Export: 17 days |
Time to Export: 17 days |
Time to Export: 17 days |
|
|
| Cost to Export: $885 per container |
Cost to Export: $885 per container |
Cost to Export: $885 per container |
Regional Average: 17 days |
5 Economies (6) |
| Enforcing Contracts |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 15 |
Time: 395 days |
Time: 395 days |
Regional Average: 55 |
Luxembourg (1) |
| Cost: 15.0% |
Cost: 15.0% |
Cost: 15.0% |
|
|
| Procedures: 35 |
Procedures: 35 |
Procedures: 35 |
|
|
| Resolving Insolvency |
Hungary DB2014 |
Hungary DB2013 |
Comparator Average |
Best Performer |
| Rank: 70 |
Time: 2.0 years |
Time: 2.0 years |
Regional Average: 37 |
Japan (1) |
| Cost: 15% |
Cost: 15% |
Cost: 15% |
|
|
Key Insights
- Ease of Doing Business Index: Hungary ranks 54th globally, a slight drop from 52nd in 2013.
- Distance to Frontier (DTF): Hungary's DTF is 66.05, indicating it has room for improvement in regulatory efficiency.
- Regulatory Reforms: Hungary has implemented some reforms in recent years, such as reducing minimum capital requirements and introducing online registration. However, in 2013, it made starting a business more complex by increasing registration fees and adding a new tax registration requirement.
- Comparative Performance: Hungary performs better than several comparator economies, but still lags behind top performers like New Zealand and Singapore in areas such as starting a business and resolving insolvency.
- Challenges: Hungary faces challenges in areas like getting electricity, registering property, and resolving insolvency, where the time and cost are relatively high compared to other economies.
Main Viewpoints
- The ease of doing business is a critical indicator for attracting investment and fostering SME growth.
- Distance to frontier is a useful tool for measuring how far an economy is from best practices and identifying potential for reform.
- Regulatory reforms in Hungary have been mixed, with some improvements and others that have increased complexity.
- Comparative data helps identify areas where Hungary can improve and benchmark its performance against other economies in the region and globally.
Critical Information
- Starting a Business: Requires 4 procedures, takes 5 days, costs 8.6% of income per capita, and requires paid-in capital of 9.4%.
- Dealing with Construction Permits: Requires 24 procedures, takes 79 days, and costs 9.2% of income per capita.
- Getting Electricity: Requires 5 procedures, takes 252 days, and costs 116.4% of income per capita.
- Registering Property: Requires 4 procedures, takes 16.5 days, and costs 5.0% of property value.
- Getting Credit: Requires 35 procedures, takes 395 days, and costs 15.0% of claim.
- Protecting Investors: Has a low ranking (128th), indicating poor investor protection.
- Paying Taxes: Requires 12 payments, takes 277 hours, and costs 277 hours.
- Trading Across Borders: Requires 6 documents for export and 6 for import, takes 17 days for both, and costs $885 and $845 per container respectively.
- Enforcing Contracts: Requires 35 procedures, takes 395 days, and costs 15.0% of claim.
- Resolving Insolvency: Takes 2 years and costs 15% of the estate, ranking 70th globally.
Conclusion
The Doing Business 2014 report highlights that Hungary has made some progress in improving its regulatory environment for SMEs but still faces significant challenges in areas such as getting electricity, resolving insolvency, and protecting investors. The report serves as a valuable tool for policymakers to identify where reforms are needed and to benchmark Hungary's performance against other economies in the region and globally.