Before diving into the numbers, it should be noted that foreigners coming to work in Hungary from different countries are subject to different rules. EU citizens, for example, can live and work in the country freely, but must register themselves with the authorities if their stay exceeds three months. By contrast, third-country (non-EU) nationals must apply for a work permit regardless of the duration of their stay. Therefore, to get an idea of how many foreigners came to work in Hungary, we should look at the sum of EU registrations and work permit applications. It is worth mentioning that the combined figure will still not reflect the number of foreigners working in Hungary with complete accuracy because not every registered EU citizen works in the country as well.
Please note that Serbian and Ukrainian workers do not need to apply for a work permit, and they only have to be reported to the authorities if their stay exceeds three months.