Attractive business environment
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Austria is the fourth most prosperous country in the EU
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Disproportionately high level of purchasing power on the part of national consumers
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Highly developed infrastructure
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Efficient public administration
Stability and Security
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High political and social stability
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Good relations between labor and management
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Low strike rate
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High personal security
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Secure supply of electricity
Tax advantages of the business location
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Low corporate tax rate
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Attractive group taxation scheme
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Austrian tax regulations allows for additional reductions in the tax burden
- No wealth or trade tax
Productivity
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High hourly labor productivity per employee
Central Location
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Ideal basis for CEE-activities
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Experience derived from a total of 16,000 existing joint ventures between Austrian and Eastern European companies
- Eastern Europe coordination hub for about 1,000 international companies
- Service providers with extensive Eastern European know-how
- Vienna International Airport is the most important flight hub to Central and Eastern Europe
Well-founded education and training
- Practical learning in the fields of technology and business
- High educational expenditures confirm the value of further education and professional development
- Close ties between the business community and the educational system
Population
Austria is home to roughly 8.7 million people. Its employment rate of around 78.0% is above the EU-28 average of 75.3 percent.
The country’s official language is German. However, Austrians also have an excellent knowledge of foreign languages. The vast majority of Austria’s resident population speaks English, but there are also a large number of Austrians with a sound knowledge of Eastern European languages.
Political Environment
The Republic of Austria is a parliamentary democracy. Its legislative organs are the National Council, the Federal Council, and the provincial parliaments.
The 183 members of the National Council as well as the members of the nine provincial parliaments (for each federal province) are elected directly, while the members of the Federal Council are elected by the provincial parliaments.
The current Federal Chancellor is Christian Kern (Social Democratic Party), the Vice-Chancellor is Reinhold Mitterlehner (Austria’s People’s Party), who also serves as Federal Minister of Science, Research and Economy.
Economic data of Austria
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | |
|
Real GDP growth rate (percentage change on previous year)
|
0,4% |
0,9% |
1,7% |
| Gross domestic product (at current market prices) |
329,30 billion € | 337,29 billion € | 348,91 billion € |
| GDP per head of population (at current market prices) |
35.489 € |
36.461 € |
36.608 € |
| Gross fixed capital formation (Gross fixed capital formation) |
22,4% |
22,1% |
22,1% |
| Employment rate (Proportion of resident population in gainful employment) |
77,8% |
77,7% |
77,8% |
| Unemployment rate | 5,6% | 5,7% | 5,9% |
| Inflation rate | 1,5% | 0,8% | 0,9% |
| Research and development expenditures (percentage of GDP) |
2,99% | 3,01% | 3,01% |
| Export rate (as a percentage of GDP) |
37,9% | 37,8% | 37,9% |
*) Forecast
Quelle: Eurostat, European Commission (Ameco database), Austrian Institute of Economic Research, Statistics Austria (Mai 2014)
For further information regarding the facts and figures of Austria, please have a look at our factsheet:
Factsheet: Key Facts of Austria (PDF, 110 kB)
