Internal Trade (7.4 MB).pdf

Internal trade in Hungary encompasses various activities supporting the flow of goods from producers to consumers, including wholesale, logistics, and retailing. The sector underwent significant changes due to the country's transition from a centrally planned to a market-based economy and its integration into the global circulation of capital. The entry of international retailers and wholesalers led to increased competition, fragmentation, and concentration in the sector, with small-scale domestic firms struggling to maintain market share. The liberalization of trade and Hungary's EU accession in 2004 further accelerated the growth of foreign direct investment in the sector, introducing new retail forms, innovations, and quality control systems. By 2007, the 10 largest agents controlled 64% of the food retail market, and the market share of new retail formats, such as hypermarkets and discount stores, continued to increase, inducing structural changes in the market. The introduction of new retail forms was a spatially differentiated and hierarchical process, leading to an increasingly uneven spatial structure in retail and consumption.