Economy Overview
Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. Following several years of solid foreign demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the international financial crisis and global economic downturn in 2008 led to a recession that persisted until the third quarter of 2009. Austrian GDP contracted 3.8% in 2009 but saw positive growth of about 2% in 2010. Unemployment has not risen as steeply in Austria as elsewhere in Europe, partly because its government has subsidized reduced working hour schemes to allow companies to retain employees. Such stabilization measures, stimulus initiatives, and the government's income tax reforms pushed the budget deficit to 3.5% of GDP in 2009 and about 5% in 2010, from only about 1.3% in 2008. The international financial crisis caused difficulties for some of Austria's largest banks whose extensive operations in central, eastern, and southeastern Europe faced large losses. The government provided bank support - including in some instances, nationalization - to prevent insolvency and possible regional contagion. In the medium-term all large Austrian banks will need additional capital. Even after the global economic outlook improves, Austria will need to continue restructuring, emphasizing knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and encouraging greater labor flexibility and greater labor participation to offset growing unemployment and Austria's aging population and exceedingly low fertility rate.
Agriculture Products
grains, potatoes, sugar beets, wine, fruit; dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber
Industries
construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism
Industrial Production Growth Rate
3% (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 106
Labor Force
3.63 million (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 96
Electricity production
66.78 billion kWh (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 40
Electricity Consumption
68.37 billion kWh (2008 est.)country comparison to the world: 38
Electricity Exports
14.93 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Electricity Imports
19.8 billion kWh (2008 est.)
Unemployment Rate
4.6% (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 43 4.8% (2009 est.)
Population Below Poverty Line
6% (2008)
Household Income or Consumption by Percentage Share
Lowest 10%: 4%
Highest 10%: 22% (2007)
Distribution of Family Income Gini Index
26 (2007)country comparison to the world: 127 31 (1995)
Public Debt
68.6% of GDP (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 25 66.4% of GDP (2009 est.)
Commercial Bank Prime Lending Rate
Stock of Narrow Money
$173.4 billion (31 December 2010 est)country comparison to the world: 18 $175.6 billion (31 December 2009 est) note: see entry for the European Union for money supply for the entire euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 16 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circulating within their own borders
Stock of Broad Money
$402.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 23 $402.2 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of Domestic Credit
$659.2 billion (31 December 2009 est.)country comparison to the world: 20 $606.2 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
Market Value of Publicly Traded Shares
$53.58 billion (31 December 2009)country comparison to the world: 43 $72.3 billion (31 December 2008)$228.7 billion (31 December 2007)
Reserves of Foreign Exchange and Gold
$NA (31 December 2010 est.)$18.05 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Debt External
$755 billion (30 June 2010)country comparison to the world: 17 $864.2 billion (31 December 2008)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment at Home
$290.7 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 18 $286.4 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Stock of Direct Foreign Investment Abroad
$297.2 billion (31 December 2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 14 $290.5 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
Exchange Rates
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.7715 (2010), 0.7179 (2009), 0.6827 (2008), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006)
