The number of registered businesses in Hungary jumped more than 22pc in the twelve months to the end of June because of new rules requiring subsistence farmers who sell their goods at market to acquire a tax number, the Central Statistics Office said on Thursday.
The number of businesses registered in Hungary was 1.624m at the end of June 2008, 298,000 or 22.5pc more than at the end of 2007, and 342,000 or 26.7pc more than at the end of June 2007.
The number of registered companies increased 15,467 or 2.9pc to 546,576 and the number of sole proprietorships — the most advantageous business form for subsistence farmers — rose 282,482 or 40.2pc to 985,077 in the six months to the end of June.
About 53pc of companies were registered in Central Hungary, where Budapest is located. The rest of Hungary’s regions had a share of between 6.7pc and 8.8pc of the total.
In the first half of 2008, 323,000 new sole proprietorships and 26,000 companies were registered. The number of new sole proprietorships exceed the number in the same period a year earlier by 41pc.
The number of new companies limited by shares (Zrt or Nyrt) rose 98pc to 256 in H1 2008, bringing the total number to 4,660 at the end of June. Almost 22,000 new limited liability companies (Kft) were registered in H1, 84pc more than in H1 2007, and the total number of Kfts rose to 274,833 on June 30, 2008. The number of new limited partnerships (Bt) fell 43pc. KSH noted that limited liability companies became more popular during the period because their minimum capital requirement was reduced.
The number of budget and social security funded economic organisations fell 98 in six months and fell 708 in the year to the end of June, to 13,956, KSH reported.
The number of non-profit organisations rose more than 700 in the first half of this year to 78,490.