Last updated on 29 November 2022.
Every 10 years, there is a census in Hungary to get a better understanding of the people living here. Based on this, more fitting policies can be developed over the next decade. The census will take place over the course of October and November 2022, and data can be submitted online or through visiting data collectors.
UPDATE: The deadline for filling in the survey passed. Thank you if you participated! Surveys have been submitted for more than 4.6 million homes and 9.2 million natural persons.
Please note: Helpers is not affiliated with KSH, the government institution managing the 2022 census in Hungary. To learn more about the census, go to the website of the census at https://nepszamlalas2022.hu/en.
Filling in the census survey is obligatory for everyone living in Hungary. This also includes Hungarian citizens living abroad for the time being (if their stay abroad is supposed to last less than 12 months) and foreign nationals who have lived in Hungary for at least 3 months before 1 October 2022.
Whether you live in Hungary to work, study, do business, or be with your family, you must complete the survey. Even children are required to participate; of course, parents can fill in the questionnaire for them.
There are two types of surveys in the census: one questionnaire must be filled in for each natural person, and one for each home. If you own real estate on an address where you do not actually live:
If you fail to submit your data by the end of November, you can be fined. The sum of the fine can be up to HUF 200,000 (ca. EUR 500).
The census will take place between 1 October and 28 November, in three phases:
In the first phase, you can submit your data online. For this, you will need a 12-digit token which is sent to you via regular mail by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH). If you lose the letter or fail to receive it, you can generate a new token through your Ügyfélkapu access. Since online data collection is finished, you cannot request a token anymore.
As an incentive for online data submission, participants can enter their unique ID numbers received upon data submission in a prize draw, where they can win a voucher worth HUF 100,000 that can be redeemed at a variety of providers.
Update: During the online phase of the census, more than 7 million natural persons filled in the questionnaire from 3.2 million addresses (out of the 5 million addresses in total).
In case you did not fill in the survey online, you were to expect a visit from a data collector starting from the middle of October. Data collectors (also called “enumerators”) would have a badge with a special ID number to avoid phishing or other incidents, and they record data through their tablets. Data collection should take no more than 30 minutes for each household.
If you missed the data collector, they would leave you a note with their contact data and the time of their next visit. If the intended time did not suit you, you could give them a call and ask for a specific time for their visit.
If you missed the online survey AND your household has not managed to find a suitable time for data collection, you were still able to visit your local town hall to submit your data between 21 and 28 November.
Find the list of town halls, complete with contact data and opening hours as published on the census website here.
The survey itself will be available in both Hungarian and English. Moreover, guides will be provided in 14 local and 5 foreign languages, so hopefully everyone living in Hungary can fill in the questionnaire without too much effort.
Local languages:
Foreign languages:
Data are handled by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), and will be stored on a secure server, observing EU regulations. You will be required to submit your name; however, this piece of data will only be used to check whether you have fulfilled your obligation for data submission. Once you have filled in the form, the form will be pseudonymized, so based on the data no one can infer your identity. This way you can submit sensitive data without the fear of repercussions.
The survey will include information about your age, education, marital status, ethnicity, religion, disabilities, gainful activity, and digital competence. Data will be used for creating statistics that can be the basis of more accurate policy making over the next decade. Results will be available starting from spring 2023, while analyses focusing on specific data segments will be published starting from fall 2023.
The Helpers Team provides immigration and business assistance to foreigners in Hungary since 2005. Whether you need help with residency, company setup, or accountancy, you can count on our expertise.
Want to learn more about why a census is necessary? Click here.
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