Small private enterprises have multiplied rapidly since 1982, when the government eased legal restrictions. But in 1989, the private sector as a whole still made up only a small portion of the economy. The government's tally of persons who reported private economic activity as their primary occupation showed that the private sector accounted for only 5.1 percent of active earners in 1986. The private sector did, however, account for 13.7 percent of the active earners involved in construction, 16.5 percent of those in transport, and 12.6 percent of those in personal- or economic-service businesses. In 1986 Hungary had 150,664 private crafts people, up from 86,303 in 1970 and 111,960 in 1981. Just under 52 percent of the crafts people plied their trade as their principal occupation, about 12 percent were pensioners, and 36 percent were employed full time in other fields.
As officially defined, the private sector's contribution to net material product rose from only 2.6 percent in 1970 to 3.5 percent in 1980 and 7 percent in 1986. Although the private sector's portion of industrial production only increased from 1 percent in 1970 to 1.8 percent in 1986, its share of the construction industry more than doubled from 6.3 percent in 1970 to 14.5 percent in 1986.
Data as of September 1989