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Rising inflation has had a negative impact on Hungary's wedding industry, which has boomed in recent years as a result of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's generous social measures to support families;

at the beginning of this year, the number of people willing to marry fell to its lowest level since 2014.

As a measure to combat the demographic crisis, the nationalist Orbán, in power since 2010, has provided tax breaks, help to buy homes and cheap loans for young families worth about 5 percent of Hungary's gross domestic product, while declaring a strong against immigration, BTA reported.

The measures led to a wedding boom in Hungary, which put it at the top of the European Union in terms of marriages - 6.9 per 1,000 population for 2020, according to comparative data from Eurostat.

The effect of the assistance was so strong that, according to sociologists, Hungary was the only country in the world where weddings did not decrease even during the pandemic year 2020.

But now things seem to be changing, especially given that inflation in Hungary is forecast to fall to 16.4 percent this year, but still be the highest in the EU.

Its high level leads to an increase in the price of food, energy and services, and hence the prices of weddings, which reduces the effect of Orbán's social measures.

In January, the number of marriages marked a record decline - according to preliminary data, they were 1,230 in the same month, the lowest number in the last nine years.

Livia Murinko, a senior researcher at Hungary's Institute for Population Research, believes that high inflation, after years of a steady increase in the number of people wanting to marry as a result of the state's welfare measures, has contributed to the decline in marriages.

"Generally everyone who was going to get married already did," she said.

"We didn't expect this marriage boom to be so big and so long-lasting, but now it's likely that things will return to something more sustainable."

"Eurostat": Annual inflation in the EU has slowed to 9.9% and 8.5% in the euro area

Kinga and Sandor Urban-Szabo, who postponed their wedding due to COVID-19, said that the budget they now have to set aside for the event has nearly quadrupled compared to the funds they intended to spend in 2020. On an annual basis, inflation in Hungary it has already reached a peak of 25.4 percent, making it the highest among Central European countries.

Others are postponing their weddings or canceling them altogether.

Startled by the prices, many couples don't even respond to emails, wedding planners said.

Mihai Toth, the leader of wedding ceremonies, said that the number of couples who decided to say "I do" will probably be lower than last year.

"Prices have skyrocketed. That's obviously deterring a lot of couples from planning weddings," Toth said.

Twenty-three-year-old Timea Szabo and her fiance, to whom they got engaged in 2020, were also forced to forego a big wedding celebration due to the sharp increase in prices, and instead decided to celebrate their marriage more modestly.

They have commissioned relatives to sew the wedding dress as well as take the wedding photos.

"We're just going to get together for a little family celebration and go out with friends in the evening," Szabo said.

inflation