The GDP of the agriculture sector grew by 9.8% last year. This year's favourable conditions mean that a significantly greater increase is expected.

Agricultural produce results played a significant role in the fact that the country's GDP increased by 1.4% in the third quarter of 2011.

Hungarian agriculture is traditionally responsible for providing around 3% of the national economy's GDP – double the average within the Union – and the agricultural business as a whole makes up 10-12% of the Hungarian economy.

It should also be noted that last year, we achieved the highest agricultural exports within the sector – 5.8 billion Euros – since our having joined the European Union. Our agricultural export-import balance was 2.1 billion Euros, meaning that agriculture provided 38% of the national economy's foreign trade balance surplus.

The favourable tendency is continuing this year, as agricultural exports in the first half of 2011 increased by 21.7%, significantly more that the national average, reaching 3.8 billion Euros during the first six months of the year, which is 674 million Euros more that during the corresponding period last year.

In addition to economic yield, agriculture also plays an important part in providing employment. Thanks to the new, simplified employment regulations that came into force on August 1 2011, the number of people employed seasonally in agriculture during August of this year reached 230 thousand, 66% more than last year's corresponding figure of 143 thousand. The "whitening" of employment means tangible advantages for all involved.

The excellent performance of the Agriculture sector makes it one of the mainstays of the Hungarian economy.

(Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development)