Why Austria’s wealth decreases – Diepresse.com
Austria’s economy shrinks while the population is growing. As a result, the GDP-Pro head, which measures prosperity, has recently dropped significantly.
Vienna. Consumers in Germany are becoming more and more common if they do not behave environmentally friendly when purchasing. They have become more price -sensitive, rely on discounts due to the increased prices and are increasingly considering “sustainability” as a luxury. This was shown at the weekend a survey by the NIQ market research institute, which refers to a long -term study with 2000 participants. In general, the consumer mood in Germany was steamed. The confidence with regard to the development of income is declining and therefore also the tendency to make larger purchases.
It’s no different in Austria. The mood of consumers has remained reasonably stable in this country in the past few months, but has also not recovered considerably. It is still better to save in large parts of the population than to make larger purchases. This behavior could last this year if unemployment continues to increase, as economists expect.
Growth or recession?
The Austrian Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) and that will be Institute for Higher Studies (IHS) present their adapted economic forecast. In December, the WIFO still assumed that Austria’s economy would grow by 0.6 percent this year. But now the economists are likely to revise their outlook. The question is whether a small growth will go out for this year or whether Austria is facing a third year in the recession. Last year, Austria’s economy shrank by 1.2 percent, in 2023 by one percent. The country is already in the longest recession in the history of the second republic. Compared to 2019, the year before the start of pandemic, Austria’s gross domestic product (GDP) Real, i.e. after deducting the inflation, only grew by 0.6 percent, data of the Statistics Austria. « With this, Austria’s economy has produced five lost years, » analyzed Tobias Thomas, director of Statistics Austria.
The picture falls even more clearly if you look at Austria’s wealth based on the GDP per capita. The GDP per capita is an internationally common key figure for the prosperity of a country. In 2023 it was 51,830 euros. Austria was in fifth place out of all 27 member countries of the European Union. On the average of the EU countries, GDP per capita was last 37,930 euros according to Statistics Austria.
« Austria’s economy has produced five lost years. »
Tobias Thomas
General Director Statistics Austria
However, economic output per capita has dropped by 2.8 percent in Austria in the past five years. Because the population grew by 3.4 percent to 9.2 million from the end of 2019 to the end of 2024. However, the economic output has hardly increased. « This is a noticeable decline in prosperity in Austria, » said statistics director Thomas. How Austria continues to develop depends on general economic development. Raiffeisen Research expects Austria to remain in the recession in 2025 – according to this forecast, GDP should shrink by 0.7 percent this year. The economic researchers of the Bank Austria I still hope that a third year of recession will prevent the resolutions of domestic demand. According to its current outlook, the economic output in Austria is likely to increase at least 0.1 percent this year.
The foreign trade weakens
However, the new Austrian finance minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) is already preparing for a third year in the recession, as he recently said in Brussels at the EU Council. Several indicators indicate that the recession goes into the extension. Especially in industry, it does not look like an upswing. The sales of the industry are likely to remain in the economic valley this year, the statistics Austria expect. Most recently, they were 25.5 percent away from the highest level of 2022. At the end of 2024, the recession in factual goods production had exacerbated again.
In no other industry, the bankruptcies have increased as in industry: they rose by a third compared to 2023 in 2024. « The recession lets the insolven wave rip », the statistics Austria reported. But Austria also weakens in foreign trade: Exports decreased by 4.9 percent in 2024 compared to the year before. After all, in view of the flat economic development, at least the labor market has been still reasonably stable.
Editor’s note: This article is an adapted version of the « Economist Insider » newsletter of the « Press » business editorial office, the You can order here.
