Evolution of the Market for Foreign Language Teaching Services in Hungary

This case study is a part of a research project dealing with the evolution of the post-socialist market. Companies with majority foreign ownership are very rare on the market for foreign language services in Hungary and import competition is negligible on this market as well. One other curious feature of this market is the long-term and decisive presence of public education. The demand for language instruction grew rapidly in the last decades of socialism. Competition and the presence of private enterprises began in the last year of the socialist system because of the permanent shortage. After the collapse of socialism a large number of new private companies entered this market as well. The demand fell during the transformational recession and rose again in the years leading up to Hungary's EU accession. Since 2004 this market has shown more and more signs of saturation.