FX.co ★ Hungary Retail Sales Growth Picks Up in September

Retail sales in Hungary rose by 4.3% year-on-year in September 2026, up from a 2.4% increase in August, which had marked the weakest growth since May 2025. The acceleration was driven primarily by stronger demand for non-food products, where sales jumped 8.7%—the fastest pace since May 2022—following a 5% rise in the previous month. Within non-food retailing, turnover grew notably in non-specialized stores selling manufactured goods (9.8% vs 4.2%), in textiles, clothing and footwear outlets (9.6% vs 2.7%), and in pharmaceutical, medical goods and cosmetics shops (8.7% vs 5.4%). Sales of automotive fuel also picked up, increasing by 6.2% after a 3.1% gain in August. By contrast, turnover in food, drinks and tobacco edged down by 0.1%, reversing a 0.4% rise in the prior month. On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, retail activity grew by 1.1% in September, rebounding from a 0.7% decline in August. Over the January–September period, retail trade was 4.3% higher than in the same period a year earlier.