The results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey) in July show a significant deterioration of economic assessments across all sectors. Economic assessments and expectations were particularly sceptical in manufacturing. Capacity utilisation declined in all sectors. In the total economy, as in previous quarters, the "shortage of labour force" was the most important obstacle to business activity, although "insufficient demand” Increased further in importance. Sales price expectations continue to show a downward trend.

The monitoring of selected indicators of digital transformation in various subsectors of the economy and society shows that Austria still ranks in the middle of the EU 27 in terms of digital transformation. The significant lag in the use of ultra-fast broadband Internet by private households or the basic digital skills of Austria's population in an EU comparison is also reflected in the low penetration of digital platform work. This is most likely to be found in the service sector, especially in accommodation and food service activities, and contributes to cost and time savings.

After strong growth in the first half of 2022, the Austrian economy entered a phase of stagnation that will continue in 2023. Manufacturing and closely related sectors are now in recession, while market-related services are expanding overall. This dichotomy in the business cycle is not expected to abate until 2024. After +0.3 percent in 2023, WIFO expects GDP growth of 1.4 percent in 2024. The upward pressure on prices will only subside slowly.

The results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey) in April point to an improvement in the total economy but reveal an uneven development of economic assessments in the individual sectors. Overall, the business activity indices point upward, with the trend being driven primarily by services and retail trade. In contrast, capacity utilisation slightly increased in all sectors. Similar to previous results, the "shortage of labour force" was the main obstacle to business activity in the Austrian economy in the last quarter, although the "insufficient demand" continued to gain in importance. Sales price expectations have been showing a downward trend for several months.

Austria's labour market defied the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and high inflation in 2022. The upswing continued. Employment grew at its fastest pace in almost 50 years and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since 2008. The impact of the current slowdown on the labour market is expected to be weak in 2023. Reducing long-term unemployment, however, remains a key challenge. Despite the ongoing decline, it is still well above the level before the financial market and economic crisis of 2008-09.

Geopolitical changes and the energy crisis shaped the development of the global economy in 2022. Regionally, economic activity was heterogeneous, with rising uncertainty and supply shortages resulting in high price increases in many countries. Austria's economy continued to expand strongly in the first half of the year, but high inflation dampened consumer and investment demand as the year progressed. Consumer price inflation rose to a peak of 11 percent in the autumn of 2022, leading to, among other things, real wage losses for employees. The Austrian federal government implemented extensive temporary and permanent relief measures to cushion the social and economic impact of inflation and the energy crisis on companies and private households.

The international economic downturn, which unfolded in the second half of 2022 and has also affected the Austrian economy, will continue to dampen GDP growth in the first half of 2023. Around the middle of the year, the economy is forecasted to regain momentum, both in the euro area and in Austria. For the year as a whole, WIFO expects weak real GDP growth of a mere 0.3 percent. In 2024 it is projected to accelerate to 1.8 percent. Due to the significant easing of prices on the energy markets, business and household sentiment has brightened somewhat. However, domestic tariffs for household energy and thus inflation will abate with some delay.

In recent years, the Austrian industrial production index has grown significantly faster than that of Germany. In Switzerland and Denmark, on the other hand, industry has expanded even more strongly than in Austria since the end of the COVID-19 crisis. However, the higher momentum in these countries is due to the boom in the pharmaceutical sector. Without this industry, the growth advantage dissipates. For all observed countries, the share of value added in output of the industry as a whole, remained rather constant recently. Therefore, meaningful comparisons can be made based on output data. Calculations of productivity based on hours worked reveal a similar development to the one of output. While a decline has been observed in Germany since 2017, labour productivity has increased in the other countries. The increase in Denmark and Switzerland was even more pronounced than in Austria. Here, too, the difference can be attributed solely to the pharmaceutical industry. Without it, there is no difference in labour productivity as compared to Austria.

The Executive Opinion Survey (EOS) is an international management survey conducted by the World Economic Forum to assess the quality of business locations. In Austria, WIFO organises and supervises the survey as the national partner organisation. This article summarises selected results for Austria and compares them with the average values of three groups of countries that are particularly relevant as peers for Austria. This year's focus in the present article is on managers' trust in public institutions. Special attention is paid to subjective perceptions of corruption. Overall, it shows that Austria is still an attractive business location but it has lost ground in terms of corruption and trust in politics and the judiciary.

The results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey) in January show a slight improvement in economic assessments compared with the previous quarter. However, economic expectations remained subdued in all sectors. Capacity utilisation stayed at an average level. In the aggregate economy, as in the previous quarters, the "shortage of labour force" was the most important obstacle to business activity, with "insufficient demand" continuing to gain slightly in importance. Although business uncertainty has decreased, it is still high and reflects considerable economic risks. Despite declines, sale price expectations also remained above average.