Hungary's construction sector had a mixed start to 2026, with projects worth around €1.8 billion entering construction in Q1, according to the latest EBI Construction Activity Report.
While activity did not substantially lag behind Q1 2025 and Q1 2023, the start of foundation works for Block 5 of the Paks 2 nuclear plant played a major role in the higher numbers. At constant prices, activity was 9% below the same period in 2025, marking the weakest first quarter since 2016.
Building construction returned to last year's levels with activity-start of around €1.2 billion, roughly in line with the average quarterly level of 2025. Multi-unit housing construction remained the strongest segment, while non-residential construction at €640 million exceeded 2025's weak average but fell 33-44% short of 2021-2024 averages. Major non-residential projects included Phase 3 of Láng-negyed V1 office building and Frontiers Campus office and research centre in Budapest, and Phase 3 of CTP VCS5 Logistics Centre in Vecsés.
Civil engineering works reached nearly €580 million, boosted by Paks 2's Block 5 foundation works, while road and railway projects totalled only €49 million. Apart from Paks 2, only the construction of Phase 2 of the industrial park in Nyíregyháza featured among the largest civil engineering projects.
Budapest continued as the regional heavyweight with a 30% share of total activity-start in Q1 2026. Multi-unit housing construction had an extremely strong start with works exceeding €580 million, the third highest quarterly activity-start since 2014. However, uncertainty remains as projects within the Otthon Start Program are expected to be reviewed, which may change developers' plans.
Within non-residential construction, offices recovered somewhat with their share rising to 34% compared to 9% in previous years, while industrial properties and warehouses accounted for 36% despite a decline from 44-54% in previous years.
