The paper analyses Hungary's competitiveness in international comparison by focusing on the supply-side factors determining competitiveness. Although it attaches outstanding importance to the business-friendly general economic environment mainly in terms of the transition to the market economy and attracting foreign direct investments, the interrelationship among labour productivity, labour costs and nominal and real exchange rates are in its focal point. Its main conclusion is that it is labour productivity which determines international competitiveness in the long run. However, appropriate economic-policy measures are required to prevent the erosion of relative international competitiveness by increasing labour costs and the real appreciation of the national currency.