Hungary 6.2

During the communist period, cultural participation in Hungarian society was general and high. After the fall of communism, it declined due to a decrease in state funding. By the 2010s, however, cultural participation showed signs of robust consolidation. It is true that the participation figures for the 1990s and 2000s are not necessarily comparable with later years, as the range of productions included has been broadened since then. However, this change reflects a shift in perception that not only formal, institutionalised productions count as culture.

The downturn during the COVID epidemic has left a strong imprint on participation data for 2020. The latest available data, 2023, shows a post-epidemic recovery in almost all genres.

Table 8: Cinema, theatre, museum and concert statistics, 1990-2023

Year	1990	2000	2010	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
*Theatre (No.)	43	52	143	220	210	233	247	240
*Theatre performances (1 000)	12	13	19	36	19	17	30	31
*Theatre (No. of visits per 1 000 persons)	482	393	458	814	456	337	652	718
Concerts (No.)	1 723	1 281	3 654	6 653	6 821	4 160	6 400	7 429
Concert (No. of visits per 1 000 persons)	72	42	99	218	110	90	152	192
Museums (No.)	754	812	647	700	676	698	702	702
Museum exhibitions	1 909	2 804	4 085	3 969	3 121	3 170	3 664	3 626
Museum (No. of visits per 1 000 persons)	1 349	987	946	1 183	454	594	1031	1180
Cinema halls (No.)	1 960	564	411	428	406	397	407	422
Cinema projections (1 000)	416	372	478	501	261	284	466	487
Cinema (No. of visits per 1 000 persons)	3 495	1 426	1 111	1 559	447	642	1 060	1 168

Source: Central Statistical Office.
Note: * From 2008, statistics include independent / alternative theatres, too. Only classical music is included under concerts; from 2008, statistics cover a fuller range than previously.

Table 9: Library statistics, 1990-2023

Year	1990	2000	2010	2020	2021	2022	2023
Local libraries (number of stocks, 1000)	40 925	43 906	43 806	43 768	45 013	45 110	39 201
Local libraries (number of registered readers, 1000)	1 486	1 357	1 540	1 037	1 054	1 096	1 143

Source: Central Statistical Office.

The overall number of cultural institutions per 100 000 inhabitants has stagnated over the past five years, with the number of theatres rising slightly and libraries falling.

Public cultural institutions were the most common type of cultural institution, with 62 per 100 000 inhabitants in 2023, compared to 39 libraries. It is becoming increasingly common to move these two types of institutions under one “roof”, which helps to optimise their maintenance costs.

The accessibility of cinemas, museums and theatres is more limited and is mainly concentrated in larger cities.

In 2021, a nationally representative survey was carried out that included questions about cultural participation (Table X). The first three rows of the table show participation in cultural activities that are heavily subsidised by the government, while the others show the consumption of more market-based cultural products.

Table 10: Participation in cultural activities, 2021
How often in the past year you have participated in the following cultural activities? (%)

	Never	Rarely	Sometimes	Often
Opera, ballet, classical concert	79	14.5	4.8	1.8
Museum, exhibition	57.7	28.9	10.9	2.5
Theatre	59.5	27.3	10.6	2.6
Reading a book	40.1	26.7	20.5	12.0
Pop concert	46.1	35.9	15.0	3.0
Music festival	54.1	29.8	13.6	2.5
Playing computer /video games	56.8	16.5	15.0	11.7

Source: National representative survey, HUN-REN Centre of Social Sciences, Centre of Social Mobility

According to the data of this survey, all forms of cultural participation show a positive correlation with educational attainment, i.e. higher educated people participate more often. In addition, there is a strong spatial inequality in the consumption of culture: participation is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. Also, the cultural participation of the capital city and its agglomeration, as well as the economically developed North-West Hungary, is higher.

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