After the longest downturn in Austria’s recent history, the country is faced with moderate growth, according to economic research institutes.
For 2025, the two institutes Wifo and IHS are now expecting an increase of 0.3 or 0.4 percent. The recovery is carried out by private consumption, it said. Few impulses were still based on export. For 2026, the WIFO expects an increase of 1.1 percent, which is 0.9 percent.
“The economic downturn in Austria was similar to the latest data as in Germany and lasted particularly long at around three years,” said Stefan Schiman-Vukan, co-author of the WiFo forecast.
Inflation higher than previously expected
The behavioral international economy and domestic structural problems are likely to lead to the economic dynamics in the forecast period remain significantly behind earlier recovery phases, according to the IHS. At the same time, according to the IHS, inflation will be higher than previously expected at 3.5 percent this year and 2.4 percent next year.
According to the experts, the budget deficit will be 4.3.3 and 2025 4.1 percent of gross domestic product. Due to the upper limit of 3 percent demanded by the EU, Austria-like other EU countries-goes through an EU deficit procedure to monitor the financial course.