OBJECTIVES: In Hungary, day surgery procedures have been performed since 2003 within a special social insurance reimbursement framework. Our aim was to analyse the rates of day surgery interventions in Hungary during the past decade. METHODS: Data analysed were taken from financing database of the National Health Insurance Fund Administration. The period analysed included the years between 2004-2014. Medical procedures we defined as day surgery procedures, were those listed among interventions which can be carried out on a day surgery basis in Appendix 9. of the Ministerial Decree 9/1993. (IV.02.) on social insurance financing. RESULTS: Results of our analysis show, that the number of procedures that can theoretically be performed on an outpatient basis according to the law, did not change significantly in the past decade. It was around 600 000 cases annually. Out of these, 14.6% in 2004 and 43% in 2014 were actually, carried out on a day surgery basis. Examining the speciality areas, while gynaecology and ophthalmology show a continuously increasing tendency with respect to day surgery procedures, its rate reaching nearly 50%, surgery and orthopaedic surgery show a considerably low rate, under 25%. Twenty-nine per cent of the patients admitted were discharged within the first 12 hours. Nineteen per cent of patients stayed in hospital for 12-24 hours. In 52% of the cases, hospital stay exceeded 24 hours. CONCLUSIONS: The 10-year period investigated saw a significant increase in the number procedures carried out on a day surgery basis in Hungary. Nevertheless, this is still far behind the rate of 60-70% cited by international literature. Speciality areas of medicine also show marked differences in their tendencies to perform day surgeries.