Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency

Site Selection is the professional magazine of Conway Data, the world’s largest full-service firm in the economic development-investment promotion industry. It is among the most popular magazines on investment, investment site selection and economic development in the US.

The Global Best To Invest survey is published every May. The overall and regional rankings of countries this year for the first time incorporate DHL’s Global Connectedness Index data in an index that also includes data sets from such organizations as IMD, OECD, the UN, WIPO and Milken Institute in addition to Site Selection’s own project data from the Conway Projects Database. A separate methodology has helped determine the top 10 metro areas globally and top five by world region.

The annual Global Best to Invest rankings showcase the top countries and metro areas in terms of their outlook for corporate investment. Hungary normally reaches a prestigious position, and she did so this time around as well by finishing first in the Eastern European & Central Asia category. Among the highest ranked countries were Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Estonia.

City level FDI efforts are also recognized by Site Selection Magazine year after year. The Hungarian capital excelled this time again as it managed to improve its ranking compared to last year in the Top 5 Metros, Eastern Europe & Central Asia category. After a 4th place in 2023, Budapest moved up to the third position, right behind Istanbul and Warsaw.

“We are very much pleased by this year’s rankings that validate our efforts to attract the possibly highest amount of capital from all over the world. The work continues, and given the progress so far in 2024, we have every reason to remain optimistic,” HIPA CEO István Joó said.

Hungary’s successes didn’t come by surprise given the extraordinary FDI figures delivered in 2023 that marked yet another milestone in the history of Hungarian investment promotion. FDI inflow exceeded EUR 13 billion, and so the previous all-time high of EUR 6.5 bln in 2022 was doubled thanks to 209 projects in total. The number of newly created jobs grew by more than 30% year-on-year to 19,692, thus setting a new record. These results can primarily be attributed to the activity of Asian investors that accounted for close to 82% of the total investment volume and two-thirds of new jobs.