Austria Economy Facts
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.
- 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.
- 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. Check findjobdescriptions to learn more about 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.
