Press Room

80% of European citizens believe the continent is stagnating or declining. The pessimistic attitude can best be explained by the growing cost-of-living crisis: one in three EU citizens has trouble making ends meet, and almost half would be unable to cover a large, unexpected expense. There are significant differences between Member States: while in Greece and Latvia, the relative majority struggles to make ends meet, in the Netherlands and Hungary, three quarters of the population are able to live on their income.

Between 2016 and 2025, support for nuclear energy in the EU increased from 17% to 42%, while opposition fell from 44% to 17%. The technology is one of the most positively perceived in Hungary: two-thirds of Hungarians believe that nuclear power plants should play a decisive role in the energy mix.

On 2 June 2025, Századvég Foundation hosted the conference “A Changing World Order: Questions and Answers for Europe”, which aimed to explore the challenges facing the European Union and the impact of global geopolitical shifts. The event also presented the results of Századvég's Project Europe survey for 2025, which highlighted the current problems and concerns of European citizens.

According to the May 2025 survey of Századvég Konjunktúrakutató, household economic expectations remained broadly stagnant (decreasing by 0.2 index point), while business economic sentiment improved by 0.6 index points from the previous month. Thus, the household index, measured on a scale of -100 to +100, changed to -17.8, while the business index strengthened to -17.3. The May survey found that the most notable positive change for households was an improvement in savings expectations, while for businesses it was easier access to development funding.

22% of Europeans are unable to heat their homes properly, and 26% have been unable to pay their utility bills in the past year due to lack of money. Thanks to the overhead cost reduction, Hungary has the lowest figures for both indicators among EU Member States. But the Brussels plan to ban Russian energy would jeopardise the programme, with serious social consequences.

While the European political elite is obsessed with war and armament, in 2025, more European citizens oppose arms deliveries to Ukraine (49%) than support them (44%), and 67% of EU respondents reject sending military troops to support Ukraine, according to the latest results of the Századvég Project Europe survey.

Macro Monitor – April 2025

Brussels is considering a new measure to ban Russian energy imports into the European Union. According to Századvég estimates, the missing natural gas volumes would cause prices to double and volatility to increase on European natural gas exchanges, which would further undermine the EU’s competitiveness and increase Hungary’s energy bill by a total of HUF 1,100 billion. With the increased expenses, the overhead cost reduction policy would become unsustainable, and Hungarian families’ heating costs would increase three and a half times the current level, which would mean an average additional expense of nearly half a million forints per year.

According to the April 2025 survey of Századvég Konjunktúrakutató, household economic expectations fell by 1.5 index points, while businesses’ economic sentiment deteriorated by 2.1 index points from the previous month. Thus, the household index, measured on a scale of -100 to +100, weakened to -17.6, while the business index to -17.9. In the April survey, the biggest positive change was in plans for major expenditures among households, while for companies it was profitability, reflecting the larger changes in product prices over the past year.

Macro Monitor – March 2025

According to the calculations of Századvég Konjunktúrakutató, the Hungarian economy could grow by 2.3% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2026. A number of uncertainties complicate the forecast for this year: first, the exchange rate of the forint and world prices will strongly determine inflation, and second, slower growth in our export markets, notably Germany, could dampen Hungarian exports. In addition, consumption is expected to continue to expand strongly throughout 2025, while investment growth is more likely to contribute to economic growth in the second half of the year.

Macro Monitor – February 2025

According to the March 2025 survey of Századvég Konjunktúrakutató, households’ economic expectations improved by 1.4 index points, while business economic sentiment deteriorated by 3.0 index points from the previous month. Thus, the household index, measured on a scale of -100 to +100, strengthened to -16.1, while the business index weakened to -15.8. In the March survey, the most positive change in household and business sentiment was seen regarding the exchange rate of the forint.

In the first three years of the Russia-Ukraine war, Hungary was hit by costs of around 9,100 billion forints, which amounted to more than 2 million forints per family. Ukraine’s accelerated accession would increase the burden further. The direct costs would be close to 2 thousand billion forints per year, which would amount to almost half a million forints per household. Additional indirect costs, which are difficult to quantify, could be even higher.

Macro Monitor – January 2025

Századvég’s latest analysis compares growth forecasts for the German economy with actual GDP growth. The figures show that Europe’s largest economy has systematically underperformed market expectations since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. The European sanctions policy has therefore caused far greater economic damage than anyone had previously expected.