The ministry said there was "absolutely no correlation" between a decline in the number of people employed in Hungary and the number of guest workers from countries outside of the European Union.

It attributed the recent decrease in the number of employed to demographic trends, and pointed out that Hungary's employment rate stood at 81.2pc, the fifth-highest figure in the EU. That rate is up from 59.9pc in 2010, as the number of working Hungarians has climbed by 1 million since then, it added.

The ministry also said employment numbers were down in the industrial sector, where technological advances and improved efficiency impacted headcount, but up in the service sector.

The ministry highlighted strict legal controls on the employment of guest workers from non-EU countries and said such labour was used mainly to complete big investments and put them into operation.

It also acknowledged the benefits to foreign investors of using workers from their own countries, with the necessary know-how and skills, to complete and launch projects in Hungary.

The ministry said non-EU workers accounted for 2.8pc of the employed in Hungary at present. Including foreign nationals from the EU and European Economic Area, that rate stands at 3pc, it added.

For comparison, the respective rates in neighbouring countries are 4.5pc for Slovakia, 7.1pc for Poland and 16pc for Czechia, the ministry said.

 

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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