Hungary’s gross average wages soared by 26.3% year-on-year to HUF 840,600 in January 2026, accelerating sharply from an 8.5% increase in the previous month. This marked the fastest pace of growth since February 2022, largely driven by robust gains in the public sector, where wages surged 99.0%, following a 7.3% rise in December. Meanwhile, wage growth remained comparatively subdued in the non-profit and private sectors, rising by 9.4% and 7.8%, respectively, easing from 9.8% and 8.7% in the previous month. Excluding one-off payments and bonuses, January wages were 9.4% higher than in the same period a year earlier, reaching HUF 694,700.