Major foreign investors in the country are Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and Austria.
Economic Indicators GDP (US$bn) (1999) 48.9 GDP growth (1999) 4.4% GDP per capita (Jan. 2000) US$4,524 Budget balance (% GDP) (Nov. 2000) -3.5% Unemployment (Sep. 2000) 5.7% Average gross monthly salary (Sep. 2000) US$270 Inflation (Oct. 2000) 10.4% Source: Central Statistical Office; Business Central Europe
Corporate forms: Kft. (limited-liability company) Minimum capitalization: 3m HUF. Rt. (joint-stock company) Minimum capitalization: 20m HUF.
Value-added tax:Most goods and services: 25% Books, hotel accommodation, food staples, most public utilities: 12%Medicine, vitamins: 0%Corporate tax: 18%Personal income tax:On yearly income up to 400,000 HUF: 20%On 400,001 to 1m HUF: 30%On more than 1m HUF: 40%
Transparency International`s 2001 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Hungary at 5.3 on a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 being the most corrupt and 10 being the most clean. Hungary was perceived as less corrupt than Poland and the Czech Republic, but more corrupt than Estonia. The index is based on a poll of business executives familiar with each country. For more information, see www.transparency.de.