At the beginning of the year 2023, sentiment improved in all sectors of the Austrian economy, especially also in the service sector, with only sentiments in construction deteriorating. The UniCredit Bank Austria Purchasing Manager’s Index sees optimism return to Austria’s industrial sector.
Looking back, after the strong first half of 2022, the economy in Austria slowed down significantly in the second half of 2022. The unemployment rate remained at 6.3 percent relatively low. The bank analysts expect for 2024 only a small increase in economy activity (+0.3% GDP growth) followed by an expected 1.2% growth in 2024. A broad stabilization of commodity prices, especially for energy, and the further easing of material bottlenecks should support a slowdown in inflation from an average of 8.6 percent in 2022 to 6.5 percent in 2023.
Also, Moody’s affirmed at the end of February 2022 Austria's Aa1 rating and considers the outlook for Austria to remain stable. In Moody's view, the Austrian economy has shown resilience to the ongoing energy crisis and faces limited risk from long-run economic scarring. Austria has shown robust growth of 4.7% in 2022, the highest within its peer group of Aaa- and Aa1-rated sovereigns.
