Challenging times for the European and Austrian societies and economies! According to the latest Bank Austria/Unicredit economic analysis, the Austrian economy shrank by over 7% in 2020, which was a worse decline than in the year of the financial crisis 2009. The unemployment rate of currently 9.9% will only slowly decline over the next years. The next months will still be difficult and only in the second half of 2021, a fundamental recovery of the Austrian economy is predicted. Austria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to grow by 2.6% in 2021 and by 5.7% in 2022. Due to lockdowns and the need for financial aids, the Austrian budget will reach a deficit of over 10% of GDP in 2020.
The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies sees also Central- , East and Southeast Europe, a region of vital importance for the Austrian economy, suffering badly from Covid-19 consequences and creating uncertainties. After a contraction of around 5% in 2020, the region should grow by 3.1% in 2021 and by 3.3% in 2022. Significant further government support is likely to be required across the region.
