Abstract
The study analyses the role of - two so-called collective factors - spatiality and ethnicity in social exclusion in Hungary. Furthermore, it highlights the unfavourable effects of incorrect political decisions concerning regional development on rural poverty and exclusion in Hungary's history since the end of World War II. It suggests the need for a new practice of monitoring and focused reporting at micro-regional level, close cooperation of regional development and social policy actors in regional planning, as well as a definite commitment of local decision makers in order to reduce spatial inequalities and avoid further escalation of exclusion.