Hungary’s annual inflation rate eased to 2.1% in January 2026, down from 3.3% in December and below market expectations of 2.4%. This was the lowest rate since March 2018, largely reflecting weaker price growth in several key categories: food (1.3% vs. 2.6% in December 2025), alcoholic beverages and tobacco (6.3% vs. 7.1%), household energy and heating (6.2% vs. 8.9%), and services (5.0% vs. 6.8%). Prices for other items and fuels continued to fall, with their decline deepening to 3.5% from 2.4% previously.
By contrast, inflation accelerated slightly for consumer durables (2.9% vs. 2.7%), while holding steady for clothing (1.6%). On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices rose 0.3% in January, following 0.1% increases in each of the previous two months. Meanwhile, annual core inflation—which excludes more volatile components such as food and energy—slowed to 2.7% in January from 3.8% in December 2025, its lowest level since January 2019.
