Online purchases take a more and more of the economy in Hungary as well as around the world. Read on to get familiar with the latest statistics, and consider how these numbers relate to your business in Hungary.
Steady growth in online purchases
The number of online purchases is growing slowly but steadily in Hungary. The lockdowns introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic caused a significant increase, and the numbers never really went back down.
The most important indicator used is the rate of people who have used the internet for purchases over the last 3 months. The rate was 35% in 2019, just before the pandemic first shit. Then it went up to 49.3% in 2020, and it has been around 60% since late 2021. In 2024, the overall rate was 61.7%.
In the last quarter of 2024, according to the latest publication of KSH (the Hungarian Central Statistical Office), 56% of households made online purchases, which is slightly lower than the yearly data. 8% of households made online purchases at least once a week, 35.7% at least once a month, and 56.3% less than once a month.
Spendings in online spaces
Alongside the frequency of purchases, the other important indicator is spending. In Q4 2025, the average value of online purchases per household was HUF 84,700. Of this, HUF 45,100 was spent in domestic stores, and HUF 39,600 in foreign stores. Of the latter, HUF 22,400 was spent in Chinese webshops.
If we take a closer look, we will see that the higher the income of a household, the more they will leave in online stores. For this purpose, it is customary to split the population in five sections according to how much they make compared to the average:
| Income category | Income compared to the average |
| 1st quintile | 0-25% |
| 2nd quintile | 25-50% |
| 3rd quintile | 50-100% |
| 4th quintile | 100-200% |
| 5th quintile | above 200% |
The below table shows that the higher the income, the more likely a household is to make online purchases, and the higher the total value is. In the first quintile, only 36.6% of households made online purchases regularly, while in the fifth quintile, the rate is 75.1%. Similarly, while the value of purchases was around HUF 39,000, in the fifth quintile it was around HUF 128,000.
| Income category | Online purchases | Online spending |
| 1st quintile | 36.6% | HUF 39,000 |
| 2nd quintile | 43.1% | HUF 72,000 |
| 3rd quintile | 55.2% | HUF 59,000 |
| 4th quintile | 56.7% | HUF 64,000 |
| 5th quintile | 75.1% | HUF 128,000 |
Popular products to shop for online
In Q4 2024, the most popular products purchased online are listed below. More than half of online shoppers bought clothes, shoes, or other accessories, while consumer electronics are also very popular. The purchase of ready meals and dishes hiked during the pandemic lockdowns, especially as the VAT content of food delivery was reduced to just 5% between November 20, 2020 and July 31, 2021, but it went back to the standard 27% as of August 1, 2021.
Products purchased by online shoppers in Q4 2024:
- Clothes and shoes: 64.1%
- Consumer electronics: 48.5%
- Utility bills and other finances: 42.3%
- Household equipment: 31.1%
- Entry tickets: 20.4%
- Cosmetics and beauty products: 19.6%
- Travel: 17.4%
- Ready meals and dishes: 14.7%
- Other food: 13.2%
Online purchases at your Hungarian company
Since the proportion of online purchases is steadily growing within Hungarian retail, it would probably make sense for your Hungarian business to enter the digital world. If you have a physical shop, adding it on Google maps is completely free of charge and only takes a few minutes, while setting up a basic website is relatively cheap and easy, especially if you find the right partner for it. Setting up a full-fledged webshop is slightly more complicated, so you will need specialized assistance with that. Luckily, there are plenty of providers with the right experience.
Before you start selling online, make sure to create a detailed workflow for the sales process, and discuss the financial details with your accountant. Consider whether you will be selling only in Hungary or also abroad, how VAT will be applied to products sold abroad (through the OSS), how invoices will be issued, how delivery will be taken care of.
Helpers Finance offers precise accounting and bookkeeping services to small and medium-sized businesses in Hungary, with a special focus on supporting foreign owners. We also provide consultancy on related topics, such as taxes, social security, and legal matters.
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