Vol. I · The 2026 Budget Audit

Hungary's 2026 budget — line by line, through a classical-liberal lens.

All 42 chapters of the central budget, line by line: every item costed, classified, and open to challenge — alongside a ten-year renewal programme that closes the deficit.

2026 CENTRAL BUDGET · 42 CHAPTERS · 782 LINE ITEMS · EVERY CLAIM TRACED TO SOURCE

The 2026 central budget Audited
Total expenditure
43,781HUF billion
Total revenue
39,563HUF billion
Chapters audited
42
Year-1 saving
2,233HUF billion

The findings

Where the 2026 budget goes

Every line item measured against the same declared standard — from the largest ministries down to the smallest item: keep, freeze, phase out, or cut.

2,233 HUF bn

identified Year-1 saving · 5.1% of expenditure

Keepconstitutionally or operationally justified spending 77.1% 33,738HUF bn
Phase outscheduled wind-down, with transition time 16.9% 7,402HUF bn
Freezeheld nominally, eroding in real terms 4.6% 2,027HUF bn
Immediate cutunjustified or harmful spending, from year one 1.4% 614HUF bn
Walk the budget ministry by ministry →

Flagship study · May 2026

Hungary 2026: A Classical-Liberal Budget Audit

A line-by-line audit of all 42 chapters of Hungary's 2026 central budget, plus a ten-year renewal programme that closes the deficit and funds a Tax Reform Dividend. The sequence is explicit: the tax wedge on labour first, then consumption taxes, with sectoral surtaxes last. Grounded in the classical liberal tradition, and published openly for critique and revision.

42

chapters audited, with line-item analysis

2,233 HUF bn

Year-1 saving · 5.1% of expenditure

10 years

renewal programme with a Tax Reform Dividend

Read the whitepaper →

How we work

AI-assisted. Principle-driven. Fully transparent.

Read the full methodology →

01

Every line item, analysed

A multi-agent AI system reads every one of the 42 chapters of Hungary's 2026 budget, across thousands of line items, applying the same analytical framework throughout — at a scale and pace no human team could sustain.

02

A declared lens

We work in the classical liberal tradition: Mises and Hayek on Austrian economics, Buchanan and Tullock on public choice, Röpke and Eucken on the ordoliberal rule of law, North and Coase on institutional economics. We declare our analytical perspective rather than hide it.

03

Open to correction

We document everything. Not every figure has been checked by hand — we say so openly, and we welcome corrections. Rigorous scrutiny of our numbers is exactly what we hope to provoke.

Who we are

Our mission

The tools of the classical liberal tradition

Mises and Hayek on Austrian economics, Buchanan and Tullock on public choice, Röpke and Eucken on the ordoliberal rule of law, North and Coase on institutional economics — concrete methods, not an abstract worldview.

Traced to source, open to challenge

Knowledge grows through error correction. We trace every figure back to its source, publish every conclusion openly, and welcome corrections.

The long-run cost of intervention

Under which institutional conditions can Hungary become both freer and more prosperous, and what real transition costs does any serious reform carry — those are the questions we examine.

Research

Latest publications

All publications →
Whitepaper 2026.05

Hungary 2026: A Classical-Liberal Budget Audit

A line-by-line audit of all 42 chapters of Hungary’s 2026 central budget — and a ten-year renewal programme that closes the deficit and funds a Tax Reform Dividend.

Read more →
Intersection Brief 2026.05

Tisza Programme: Intersection with the Renewal Programme

A section-by-section assessment: where the Tisza party programme aligns with the renewal programme, where it diverges, and where it contradicts it — with the prosperity gap quantified where the two part ways.

Read more →
Chapter Analysis 2026.05

Chapter I — National Assembly

The National Assembly chapter classifies HUF 348 billion of legislative, regulatory, and discretionary spending — protecting what is constitutionally indispensable while phasing out party-foundation grants and prestige capital programmes.

Read more →

Independent analysis

Support independent analysis

The Free Society Institute accepts no government funding — we operate entirely on private donations. Your contribution funds rigorous, unsponsored research directly.