Economical overview
Austria is a developed industrialized country
with a gross domestic product (GDP) per inhabitant,
which has been among the highest in Europe since the
late 1980s. Unemployment has generally been lower than
in most other European countries. Exports play an
important role for the country's economy, as well as the
large service sector, where tourism is not least
important.
The changes in eastern Europe from 1990, after the
fall of the iron curtain, provided benefits. Previously,
the exchange was limited to the communist states at the
country's northern and eastern borders. Now Austrian
companies and banks gained easy access to new markets
and trade exchanges spurred growth. Neighboring EU
membership in 2004 provided further push. However,
exposure to these countries also led to increased
risk-taking, which became evident in the context of the
global financial crisis 2008-2009. The government was
forced to step in with support for several banks that
had large lending to Eastern and Central European banks.
The crisis also hit hard on the export-dependent
Austrian economy, which was in the deepest recession
since the Second World War.
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Countryaah.com:
Major imports by Austria, covering a full list of top products imported by the country and trade value for each product category.
The government invested in investments, tax cuts and
other stimulus measures and the recovery was good in
2010–2011. After that, however, growth slowed down and
ended up below one percent for several years. One reason
was relatively weak domestic demand. The debt crisis in
the euro zone also put pressure on the economy and not
least on the banks. The government worked to strengthen
the banking system but also demanded that the banks
contribute to the country's economy during difficult
times. A special annual tax was introduced in 2011 on
the banks' assets, which led to protests from the
banking sector.
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Abbreviationfinder.org: Check this abbreviation website to find three letter ISO codes for all countries in the world, including AUS which represents the country of Austria.
Unemployment also reached its highest level since
World War II, although it was still relatively modest
compared to the rest of Europe. A comprehensive tax
reform came into effect in 2016. This meant, among other
things, reduced income tax for most employees and new
VAT rates.
FACTS - FINANCE
GDP per person
US $ 51,513 (2018)
Total GDP
US $ 455,737 M (2018)
GDP growth
2.7 percent (2018)
Agriculture's share of GDP
1.2 percent (2018)
Manufacturing industry's share of GDP
16.6 percent (2018)
The service sector's share of GDP
62.7 percent (2018)
Inflation
1.5 percent (2019)
Government debt's share of GDP
73.8 percent (2018)
Currency
euro 1
- 1 euro = 100 cents
2010
October
Vienna state elections
FPÖ is moving forward with 27 places being second largest after SPÖ. ÖVP only
gets 13 seats.
May
State elections in Burgenland
SPÖ loses its majority in the state while FPÖ increases its share of votes
compared to previous elections from 5 to 9 percent.
April
Fischer re-elected president
April 25
Fischer receives just over 79 percent of the vote, compared to 15 percent for
FPÖ's Barbara Rosenkranz. Fischer has support from SPÖ and The Greens. ÖVP does
not support any candidate, which is assumed to be a contributing reason for the
turnout being a record low 54 percent. (25/4)
2009
June
Elections to the European Parliament
7 June
Both the ÖVP and the SPÖ backtrack compared to the previous EU elections.
However, despite the condemnation of church leaders, politicians as well as
Jewish and Muslim groups, voter support for FPÖ doubles to almost 13 percent.
The party warns against the "Islamization" of Europe and Austria.
April
New BZÖ leader
26th of April
The right-wing populist BZÖ holds a party congress in Linz and appoints Josef
Bucher as party leader after Haider (see October 2008).
March
State elections in Carinthia and Salzburg
March 1st
BZÖ goes ahead in the state election in Carinthia and receives about 45
percent of the vote. BZÖ's Gerhard Dörfler becomes a new "country captain" in
the state government. SPÖ also backs in Salzburg but remains the largest party
and retains the governor post.
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