According to data released by the Ministry for National Economy, checks conducted revealed that 17.11% of employees were hired illegally in 2017, while in 2016 this was only 12.73%.

The rate is extremely high in the construction industry, where 47% were not registered last year, compared to 42% in 2016, vg.hu reports.

Black market labor is somewhat less prevalent in agriculture, where one third of employees checked were found to be working illegally last year.

Security and services saw 22% illegal workers in 2017, slightly up on 21% in 2016, while the hospitality industry hired 19%  illegally in 2017, up from 16% in 2016.

As for those legally hired, the most common irregularity is the omission of registration with the authorities, the ministry said.