According to experts, the Hungarian garlic production fell by between 15-20 percent less in 2015 due to the impact of drought, given that the plant is mostly grown around the Mako area without irrigation.
In the Budapest Wholesale Market, the price of garlic during the first 7 weeks of 2016 has been 27 percent higher than in the same period of 2015, reaching 1,022 HUF/kg (3.29 Euro/kg).
There has also been a reduction in the production over a longer period. In 2000, according to CSO data, Hungary produced 13 thousand tonnes of garlic, compared to 7.2 thousand tonnes in 2014, grown on 950 hectares.
Hungary's foreign trade balance in the last decade has been negative. This balance, however, improved in the first eleven months of 2015 compared to the same period of the previous year, as imports dropped by 3 percent to 662 tonnes, while at the same time, exports grew by 81 percent to 623 tonnes. Many of these exports went to Romania (224 tonnes).
