Economy - overview:
Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Membership in the EU has drawn an influx of foreign investors attracted by Austria's access to the single European market and proximity to EU aspirant economies. Slow growth in Germany and elsewhere in the world held the economy to 0.7% growth in 2001, 1.4% in 2002, and again less than 1% in 2003. However, recent data signal that the recovery has started. The government estimates economic growth in 2004 of 1.7-2.1% and of 2.5% in 2005. The government is planning a EURO 500 billion income tax cut in 2004, though some economists doubt it will have stimulative effects in 2004, because it will be offset by higher health insurance contributions and higher taxes on energy. For 2005, Austria plans a tax cut of EURO 2.5 billion and harmonization of the various pension schemes. To meet increased competition from both EU and Central European countries, particularly the new EU members, Austria will need to emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy, continue to deregulate the service sector, and lower its tax burden. A key issue is the encouragement of much greater participation in the labor market by its aging population.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $245.5 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
0.8% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $30,000 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 2%
industry: 33%
services: 65% (2002 est.)
Population below poverty line:
3.9% (1999)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.5%
highest 10%: 22.5% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
31 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.2% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
4.3 million (2001)
Labor force - by occupation:
services 67%, industry and crafts 29%, agriculture and forestry 4% (2001 est.)
Unemployment rate:
4.3% (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $67 billion
expenditures: $70 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (2004 est.)
Industries:
construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
3.8% (2001 est.)
Electricity - production:
58.75 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 29.3%
hydro: 67.2%
other: 3.5% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
54.85 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
14.25 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
14.47 billion kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
20,670 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
262,400 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
35,470 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
262,000 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - proved reserves:
85.69 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production:
1.731 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption:
7.81 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports:
403 million cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports:
6.033 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves:
24.9 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Agriculture - products:
grains, potatoes, sugar beets, wine, fruit; dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber
Exports:
$83.45 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel; textiles, foodstuffs
Exports - partners:
Germany 31.5%, Italy 9.3%, Switzerland 5.4%, US 4.9%, UK 4.9%, France 4.7%, Hungary 4.3% (2002)
Imports:
$81.59 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs
Imports - partners:
Germany 42.6%, Italy 6.6%, Hungary 5.1%, Switzerland 4.8%, Netherlands 4.4% (2002)
Debt - external:
$15.5 billion (2003 est.)
Economic aid - donor:
ODA, $520 million (2002)
Currency:
euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by the financial institutions of member countries; as of 1 January 2002, the euro became the only legal tender in EMU member countries, including Austria
Currency code:
EUR
Exchange rates:
euros per US dollar - 0.89 (2003), 1.06 (2002), 1.12 (2001), 1.09 (2000), 0.94 (1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
