Hungary issued 48,520 first residence permits for work to citizens of countries outside the EU in 2025, 12.9 percent fewer than in 2024 and the first fall since 2020. It came as guest worker and employment purpose residence permits were limited to Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines: permits for Vietnam fell from 12,212 to 3,743 and those for the Philippines rose from 4,584 to 12,108. Other residence permits for work stay open (China 7,962, Ukraine 7,407). Per resident Hungary issues 8.5 for every 1,000 aged 20 to 64, against 4.9 across the EU. The rules are tightening: Decree 92/2026 closed the guest worker route to new applications from 6 June 2026. Our estimate is about 47,300 permits in 2026, between 29,300 and 71,800; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number and the direction is falling. In 2031 the central line, a stated assumption, gives about 41,300 a year; without the decree, 46,200.
Observed
First residence permits for work in 2025, down 12.9 percent on 2024
48,520
Our estimate
Permits in 2026, between 29,300 and 71,800
47,300
Line on a stated assumption
Permits a year in 2031, central line; held flat 48,500, without the decree 46,200
41,300
Projection of the source
Fewer people aged 20 to 64 in 2041 than in 2026, on Eurostat's 2025 projection
555,000
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary3
9.5 million people, 327,430 fewer than in 2015
Hungary has 9.5 million people, 327,430 fewer than in 2015. Deaths have outnumbered births every year since 2019, and arrivals covered the gap only in 2022. Output per head is 55 percent of the EU average, or 76 percent counting lower prices at home. The economy grew 0.5 percent in 2025, and Eurostat projects 9.8 percent fewer people aged 20 to 64 by 2041.
People living in Hungary on 1 January 2026
9,488,428
3.3 percent fewer than in 2015, and 2.1 percent of the EU's 452.0 million. People aged 65 and over were 20.9 percent of the population in 2025.
GDP in 2025, billion euro at current prices
218.8
1.2 percent of the EU economy.
GDP per head in 2025
23,000euro
55 percent of the EU average of 41,700 euro in 2025. Counting lower prices at home, 76 percent, up from 70 percent in 2015.
Real growth in 2025
0.5%
Against 1.4 percent across the EU. Over 2021 to 2025 the economy grew 12.1 percent in all, the EU grew 13.7 percent (our estimate from the yearly rates).
People aged 20 to 64 in work, 2025
81.1%
Against 76.1 percent across the EU.
Three countries, then none
1 January 2025Guest worker residence permits open only to Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines.
6 June 2026No country is listed for new guest worker residence permits.
Sources: Eurostat, demo_gind (population, updated 21 July 2026), nama_10_gdp and nama_10_pc (GDP, updated 21 September 2026), tec00114 (price adjusted GDP per head), tec00115 (growth), lfsi_emp_a (employment), demo_pjanbroad (age). All retrieved 27 September 2026. Figures for 2025 GDP, GDP per head and growth are provisional. Key dates: Magyar Közlöny 135 of 23 December 2024 and 64 of 5 June 2026; Hivatalos Értesítő 1 of 9 January 2025, notice 2/2025.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary4
More deaths than births, almost no net arrivals
Deaths outnumber births every year since 2019, and in 2025 net migration added only 493
In 2025, 124,831 people died and 73,264 were born. Net migration added 493, so the population fell by 51,074.
Births minus deathsNet migration
Source: Eurostat, demo_gind (updated 21 July 2026), migr_imm1ctz and migr_emi1ctz (moves of a year or more), retrieved 27 September 2026. Net migration includes Eurostat's statistical adjustment. Not published: moves in and out for 2025.
About 8.85 million people by 2041 on Eurostat's projection
Observed to 2026, then Eurostat's 2025 projection in the lighter line.
Source: Eurostat, demo_gind (observed, updated 21 July 2026) and proj_25np (EUROPOP2025 baseline and migration tests, updated 11 June 2026), retrieved 27 September 2026. The population series breaks between 2022 and 2023 (a new census base): the change over 2022 differs by 78,727 from births minus deaths and net migration.
The share aged 65 and over rises to 25%
0 to 1415 to 6465 and over
Source: Eurostat, demo_pjanbroad (2025) and proj_25np (2041), retrieved 27 September 2026.
218.8 billion euro in 2025, and the IMF forecast to 2031
Billion euro at current prices of 2025IMF forecast
Real growth under each year: observed to 2025 (Eurostat, tec00115), the IMF forecast after. Sources: Eurostat, nama_10_gdp (2025 provisional); IMF, World Economic Outlook April 2026; Werklist calculation: the other years are the 2025 value moved by the real growth rates; retrieved 27 September 2026.
ContentsThe countryWhere the market is nowThe outlookMethod and sourcesWorkforce Migration Report 2026, HungaryRequest
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Permits fell in 2025, when eligibility was cut to three countries
Permits rose every year from 2021 to 2024, then fell 12.9% in 2025
Hungary issued 48,520 first residence permits for work in 2025, against 55,706 in 2024 and 38,875 in 2019. From 1 January 2025 guest worker and employment purpose residence permits were open only to Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
A first residence permit for work is the first one a citizen of a country outside the EU receives to take a job in Hungary: an employment purpose or guest worker residence permit, an EU Blue Card or another residence permit for work. Renewals are not in this count, and neither are permits valid for less than three months.
Nearly nine in ten run for a year or more
The share valid for 12 months or more: 82.4 percent in 2019, 87.5 percent in 2025.
12 months or more87.5%42,451
6 to 11 months9.9%4,781
3 to 5 months2.7%1,288
201982.4%
202486.7%
202587.5%
Share of permits valid for 12 months or more
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by length of validity, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Eurostat's count and the national count, 2025
First residence permits for work, Eurostat, 2025
48,520
Applications for the two residence permits, 2025
36,518
The immigration office counts applications for the two residence permits, employment purpose and guest worker, not permits issued; Eurostat counts every first residence permit for work issued in 2025, including those applied for under the 2024 rules.
Sources: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, updated 11 September 2026; National Directorate General for Aliens Policing (OIF), statistics for 2025, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary6
Hungary is above its six peers' median and the EU
First residence permits for work for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64
The first residence permits for work a country issues in a year, divided by the residents aged 20 to 64 living there on 1 January of that year. These are first residence permits only, as Eurostat counts them.
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst (first residence permits for employment) and demo_pjangroup (residents aged 20 to 64 on 1 January), reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026 and 25 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation. The EU line: migr_resfirst and demo_pjangroup for the 27 EU countries (residents aged 20 to 64 in 2024 summed from single years of age, demo_pjan).
Per 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, by length of permit
Hungary
Czechia
Slovakia
Poland
Croatia
EU
All lengths
8.5
2.8
4.1
14.8
21.1
4.9
12 months or more
7.5
2.7
3.3
6.6
1.6
3.6
3 to 11 months
1.1
0.1
0.8
8.1
19.6
1.3
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by length of validity and demo_pjangroup, 2025, retrieved 27 September 2026. Werklist calculation. The peers' median, 4.71, is the Werklist country record's, on EUROPOP2025's residents aged 20 to 64, so its rates differ slightly (Slovakia 3.96, Poland 14.45).
Hungary issued 8.5 first residence permits for work per 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, down from 9.7 in 2024, against 4.9 across the EU. Of its six peers only Poland (14.8) and Croatia (21.1) issue more. Czechia fell from 10.4 in 2019, more than half of it to Ukrainians, to 2.2 in 2023 and issued 2.8 in 2025. On permits of 12 months or more Hungary issues 7.5, Czechia 2.7.
Czechia's embassy caps and hiring programme
July 2026Since 1 July 2026 the embassy in Manila takes at most 11,400 employee card applications a year, 10,300 of them through the Qualified Employee Programme.
13 countriesThe programme covers 13 countries, the Philippines and India among them, and asks for a full time contract of a year or more at 1.22 times the minimum wage or more.
30 daysWhere local candidates are available, a job opens to employee card holders only after the Labour Office has offered it for 30 days, or 10 if the office cuts it.
Sources: Act 326/1999, sections 42g, 44(6) and 169t(6), and Act 435/2004, section 37a(4), on e-Sbírka; Government Regulation 220/2019 as amended by 109/2026; Ministry of Industry and Trade, programme text of 15 March 2026. All retrieved 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary7
The Philippines lead, Vietnam falls
Citizens of the Philippines received 12,108 permits in 2025, more than twice the 4,584 of 2024, once the eligible list was cut to Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines; Vietnam fell from 12,212 to 3,743. Werklist's seven sourcing centres received 19,077 permits, 39.3 percent: the Philippines 12,108, Vietnam 3,743, India 2,291, Indonesia 548, Nepal 175, Bangladesh 137 and Uzbekistan 75.
Citizenship
Permits 2024
Permits 2025
Share 2024
Share 2025
The Philippines
4,584
12,108
8.2%
25.0%
China
4,759
7,962
8.5%
16.4%
Ukraine
9,490
7,407
17.0%
15.3%
Vietnam
12,212
3,743
21.9%
7.7%
India
3,694
2,291
6.6%
4.7%
Serbia
1,872
2,245
3.4%
4.6%
Türkiye
1,891
1,423
3.4%
2.9%
Russia
1,597
1,392
2.9%
2.9%
Indonesia
705
548
1.3%
1.1%
Nepal
293
175
0.5%
0.4%
Other origins
14,609
9,226
26.2%
19.0%
All origins
55,706
48,520
100.0%
100.0%
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference years 2024 and 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026. Bangladesh (137) and Uzbekistan (75) are counted in other origins.
The Philippines alone received 25.0% of 2025 permits
Shares of the first residence permits for work issued in 2025, by citizenship.
The Philippines
25.0%
China
16.4%
Ukraine
15.3%
Vietnam
7.7%
India
4.7%
Serbia
4.6%
Türkiye
2.9%
Russia
2.9%
Indonesia
1.1%
Other origins
19.4%
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference year 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Hungary issued 19,077 permits to citizens of the seven centres, below Romania, Croatia and Poland
Permits for citizens of the seven sourcing centres (Nepal, India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan) in 2025, against all first residence permits for work.
Hungary
19,077of 48,520
Croatia
23,510of 47,382
Poland
20,853of 318,186
Romania
33,933of 60,840
Czechia
7,447of 17,770
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst by citizenship, reference year 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary8
Vietnam's permits fell from 14,387 in 2023 to 3,743 in 2025
The Philippines lead Hungary's first residence permits for work, with 25.0 percent in 2025
Ukraine held 65.7 percent of the permits in 2019 and 15.3 percent in 2025. The Philippines rose from 112 permits to 12,108 and China from 1,016 to 7,962, while Vietnam peaked at 14,387 in 2023 and fell to 3,743 after the list of eligible countries was cut in 2025.
The sourcing centres of WerklistOther origins
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, by citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 29 September 2026.
Of the seven sourcing centres, the Philippines received 12,108 first residence permits for work in 2025, Vietnam 3,743, India 2,291, Indonesia 548, Nepal 175, Bangladesh 137 and Uzbekistan 75.
Citizenship
2019
2023
2024
2025
Share 2025
The Philippines
112
7,021
4,584
12,108
25.0%
China
1,016
1,730
4,759
7,962
16.4%
Ukraine
25,543
7,074
9,490
7,407
15.3%
Vietnam
1,731
14,387
12,212
3,743
7.7%
India
1,060
2,913
3,694
2,291
4.7%
Serbia
2,829
1,389
1,872
2,245
4.6%
Türkiye
798
1,762
1,891
1,423
2.9%
Russia
256
1,147
1,597
1,392
2.9%
Indonesia
68
972
705
548
1.1%
Nepal
35
393
293
175
0.4%
Bangladesh
7
352
476
137
0.3%
Uzbekistan
2
472
285
75
0.2%
Other origins
5,418
13,930
13,848
9,014
18.6%
All origins
38,875
53,542
55,706
48,520
100.0%
Source: Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits issued for employment reasons, by citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026, retrieved 29 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary9
Decree 92/2026 ended new applications from 6 June 2026
The rules as they stand on 27 September 2026
June 2026
Government Decree 92/2026, in force from 6 June 2026, names no country whose citizens may work on a guest worker residence permit, so new applications end.
3 countries
Citizens of Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines may still get an employment purpose residence permit, under section 28(3) of Act XC of 2023.
Renewals
Permits issued before 6 June 2026 stay valid. Guest worker residence permits valid on 5 June may be renewed, and applications paid by that day are decided under the old list.
Scope
The decree covers only these two permits. Other residence permits for work, which Eurostat also counts, are outside it.
Sources: Magyar Közlöny 64 of 5 June 2026, Government Decree 92/2026 amending Decree 450/2024 on the employment of guest workers, sections 1 to 5; Hivatalos Értesítő 23 of 5 June 2026, notice 1/2026. All retrieved 27 September 2026.
About 555,000 fewer people aged 20 to 64 by 2041
Eurostat projects 5,650,835 in 2026 and 5,095,611 in 2041, a fall of 9.8 percent. With lower migration the fall is 702,527, with higher migration 408,040.
Source: Eurostat, proj_25np, EUROPOP2025 baseline and migration sensitivity tests, updated 11 June 2026; 2025 observed, demo_pjangroup, updated 25 September 2026; retrieved 27 September 2026.
Citizens of Hungary who left in 2024, up from 19,322 in 2020
41,294
The most since 2015; the number has risen every year since 2020.
Eurostat, migr_emi1ctz, retrieved 27 September 2026
Unemployment in 2025, against 6.0 percent across the EU
4.4%
Below the EU rate, so few people at home are looking for work.
Eurostat, une_rt_a, retrieved 27 September 2026
Monthly minimum wage from 1 January 2026, forint
322,800
Jobs that require secondary education must pay at least 373,200 forint a month.
Government Decree 426/2025, Magyar Közlöny 157 of 23 December 2025, retrieved 27 September 2026
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary10
About 47,300 permits in 2026, between 29,300 and 71,800
Our estimate is about 47,300 first residence permits for work in 2026. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is falling. Decree 92/2026 closed the guest worker route to new applications from 6 June 2026; from 2027 it takes about 5,150 permits a year out. In 2031 the central line gives 41,300, the count held flat 48,500 and the line without the decree 46,200, each on a stated assumption.
Permits in 2026, our estimate
47,300
between 29,300 and 71,800
Permits a year in 2031, the central line, a stated assumption
41,300
held flat 48,500; without the decree 46,200
Direction of the rules and of the count
The rulesTightening
The count, 2025Falling
Permits in 2027: falling; the range is too wide for a yearly number
The central line falls to 41,300 by 2031; without the decree, 46,200
Permits issued to 2025, then our estimate with its range for 2026; for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number and the direction is falling. From 2027, three lines on stated assumptions, their spread shaded. No peers' line is drawn: Hungary already issues 8.53 first residence permits for work a year per 1,000 people aged 20 to 64, above 4.71, the median of its peers (Bulgaria 3.44, Czechia 2.8, Croatia 21.13, Poland 14.45, Romania 5.46 and Slovakia 3.96).
ObservedOur estimate, 2026Its rangeLines on stated assumptions: central line, held flat, without the decreeSpread of the lines
Source: Werklist estimate from Eurostat migr_resfirst (reference years to 2025, updated 11 September 2026); for 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number, so only the direction is given; the lines from 2027, each on a stated assumption: central line, the 2025 count moved by its change of 2023 to 2025, 4.8 percent a year fewer, fading (2020 and the changes into 2022 and 2023, when Ukrainians moved into temporary protection, left out), and from 2027 about 5,150 permits a year fewer under Decree 92/2026, which closed the guest worker route to new applications from 6 June 2026; held flat, the count held at 48,500; without the decree, the line without Decree 92/2026; retrieved 27 September 2026. Values rounded to three significant figures; the table gives the lines in 2031, 2036 and 2041 only, each line in a row of its own; Low and High give the range of 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary11
The count's own trend and Decree 92/2026 set the central line
The Philippines' share falls from 25.0% to 16.2% under the decree
Our estimate: from 2027 the permits to Filipinos lose the guest worker share of 41.9 percent under Decree 92/2026, and the other shares rise slightly as the total falls. In 2031 Vietnam holds 8.6 percent, India 5.3, Indonesia 1.2, Nepal 0.4, Bangladesh 0.3 and Uzbekistan 0.2.
All other originsUzbekistanBangladeshIndonesiaIndiaVietnamNepalThe Philippines
Source: Werklist estimate on Eurostat migr_resfirst by citizenship, retrieved 27 September 2026. Vietnam, Indonesia and Uzbekistan keep their 2025 shares, moved by the fall of the total. Nepal, India, Bangladesh and the Philippines, which the record splits: 22.2 percent in 2031, range 14.8 to 33.4.
The drivers of the estimate
The count's own trend and Decree 92/2026 enter the central line.
People aged 20 to 6437,000 fewer a year
9.8 percent fewer from 2026 to 2041. It enters no line: the demand it implies lies below the count.
The count's own trenddown 4.8 percent a year
The mean yearly change of 2023 to 2025, damped by half each year: down to a factor of 0.95.
Citizens leaving, 20242,154 more left
41,294 left and 39,140 returned, all ages.
Economic growth, real1.7 percent in 2026
The IMF's projection of real GDP growth for the year the estimate starts.
The national count beside Eurostat's0.75 times
36,518 applications for the two residence permits in 2025, against 48,520 at Eurostat.
Permits a year per 1,000 people aged 20 to 648.53 in 2025
Against 4.71, the median of its six peers, and 4.92 across the EU.
Sources: Eurostat proj_25np, migr_emi1ctz, migr_imm1ctz; the Werklist country record, edition 2026.1; IMF World Economic Outlook, April 2026; OIF; retrieved 27 September 2026.
What could change this
The lines already carry one dated change, Decree 92/2026. The other two cards name changes outside the estimate.
Decree 92/2026, from 6 June 2026
The decree closed the guest worker route to new applications; the employment purpose residence permit continues. From 2027 the central line takes about 5,150 permits a year out, 41.9 percent of the permits to Filipinos, Georgians and Armenians. Without the decree: 46,200 a year in 2031 against 41,300.
Routes outside the decree
EU Blue Cards, permits for the highly skilled and the other residence permits for work are outside Decree 92/2026. More permits on these routes would lift the count above the central line; citizens of China received 7,962 permits in 2025 and of Ukraine 7,407.
A change to the country list
The government may review the list of countries at any time, under section 2 of Decree 450/2024. A country added would push the numbers up, one removed down. None is published by 27 September 2026.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary12
How to read this report
What a first residence permit for work is
Eurostat's first residence permits for employment, valid three months or more, without renewals: in Hungary employment purpose and guest worker residence permits (Act XC of 2023), EU Blue Cards and permits for the highly skilled. The immigration office's 36,518 applications of 2025 are not permits issued.
What the range and the lines mean
Our estimate gives a yearly number with a low and a high end for 2026 only; for 2027 its range is too wide for a yearly number, so we give the direction. After that we give three lines, each on a stated assumption, and the spread between them. Observed numbers are solid lines, estimates dashed ones.
How the estimate is made
We start from the 48,520 permits of 2025. The central line carries the change of 2023 to 2025, 4.8 percent a year fewer, fading (the years Ukrainians moved into temporary protection left out). From 2027 Decree 92/2026 takes about 5,150 permits a year out. The line without the decree leaves it out; the third holds 48,500.
Numbers, dates and words
Past counts are printed exactly; estimates are rounded to three significant figures. The comparisons with the peers the record names (Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) and the EU are our arithmetic on Eurostat data. Permits are counted, not people; people appear only where we speak of the population.
Sources
Every source retrieved 27 September 2026, except the permits by citizenship of the origins trend page, retrieved 29 September 2026.
Eurostat, migr_resfirst, first residence permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship, reference years 2019 to 2025, updated 11 September 2026. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/migr_resfirst
Eurostat, demo_gind, demo_pjangroup and demo_pjanbroad, population, births, deaths and age. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser
Eurostat, migr_imm1ctz and migr_emi1ctz, immigration and emigration by citizenship. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser
Eurostat, proj_25np, EUROPOP2025 population projection, baseline and migration sensitivity tests, updated 11 June 2026. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/proj_25np
Eurostat, nama_10_gdp, nama_10_pc, tec00114 and tec00115, GDP, GDP per head and growth. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser
Eurostat, lfsi_emp_a and une_rt_a, employment and unemployment. ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, April 2026, real GDP growth. imf.org/external/datamapper
Magyar Közlöny, Hungary, Government Decree 92/2026 of 5 June 2026 (issue 64), Decree 450/2024 of 23 December 2024 (issue 135) and Decree 426/2025 on the minimum wage (issue 157 of 2025). magyarkozlony.hu
Hivatalos Értesítő, Hungary, issue 1 of 9 January 2025, notice 2/2025, listing the Philippines, and issue 23 of 5 June 2026, notice 1/2026, withdrawing it. magyarkozlony.hu
National Directorate General for Aliens Policing (OIF), Hungary, statistics for 2025, applications for residence permits by purpose. oif.gov.hu
Czech Republic, e-Sbírka and Ministry of Industry and Trade, Acts 326/1999 and 435/2004; Government Regulation 220/2019 as amended by 109/2026; Qualified Employee Programme, text of 15 March 2026. e-sbirka.gov.cz, mpo.gov.cz
Photographs and flags
Pexels: Budapest at night, Vishpix (cover); Eger from above, Molnar Tamas Photography (page 3); port cranes, Enes Beydilli; Buda Castle at night, Incze Sandor Zoltan; tower cranes, Airam Dato-on; Lake Balaton at twilight, Posza Robert (back cover). Flags: circle-flags by HatScripts, MIT licence.
Workforce Migration Report 2026, Hungary
werklist.com
What this report answers
How many first residence permits for work has Hungary issued each year since 2019?
48,520 in 2025, 12.9% fewer than the 55,706 of 2024 and the first fall since 2020; 38,875 in 2019.
Which countries do the new hires come from, and which are growing?
The Philippines lead with 12,108 permits in 2025, more than twice the 4,584 of 2024, ahead of China with 7,962 and Ukraine with 7,407. Vietnam fell from 12,212 to 3,743 once the eligible list was cut to Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines.
How does Hungary compare with its neighbours per resident?
8.5 first residence permits for work for every 1,000 residents aged 20 to 64 in 2025, down from 9.7 in 2024: above Czechia's 2.8, Slovakia's 4.1 and the EU's 4.9, below Poland's 14.8.
Which rules apply to employers who hire from abroad?
Decree 92/2026 closed the guest worker route to new applications from 6 June 2026. Citizens of Georgia, Armenia and the Philippines may still get an employment purpose residence permit, and other residence permits for work stay open.
How is the working age population changing?
Eurostat projects 5,650,835 people aged 20 to 64 in 2026 and 5,095,611 in 2041: about 555,000 fewer, a fall of 9.8 percent.
How many first residence permits for work do we expect Hungary to issue in 2026, and what comes after?
About 47,300 in 2026, between 29,300 and 71,800. For 2027 the range is too wide for a yearly number; the direction is falling. In 2031 the central line gives 41,300 a year, held flat 48,500 and the line without Decree 92/2026 46,200, each on a stated assumption.
The full report answers each question with its figures, charts and sources. Request the full report
Photographs: Budapest at night by Vishpix (Pexels); Eger from above by Molnar Tamas Photography (Pexels); Port cranes by Enes Beydilli (Pexels); Buda Castle at night by Incze Sandor Zoltan (Pexels); Tower cranes by Airam Dato-on (Pexels); Roofs of Eger by Molnar Tamas Photography (Pexels).
Hungary
Czechia
Slovakia
Poland
Croatia
The Philippines
China
Ukraine
Vietnam
India
Serbia
Türkiye
Russia
Indonesia
Nepal
Romania
Bangladesh
Uzbekistan