Austrian economy growing strongly in mid-2021

The Austrian economy continued to recover in mid-2021. In the second quarter, real GDP grew by 3.6% compared with the previous quarter as the easing of containment measures led to significant growth. At the same time, the construction and industry sectors experienced a slowdown. According to leading short-term indicators, strong growth is expected to continue in the third quarter. One of the reasons is that summer tourism might reach its pre-crisis levels much faster than anticipated due to the sharp increase in overnight stays of Austrian, German and Dutch guests. On the other hand, industry climate indicators as well as current export trends show first signs of cooling. Owing to supply bottlenecks and shortages in materials, manufacturing businesses are increasingly struggling to handle large amounts of orders. Compared to Austria, Germany is being hit significantly harder by these bottlenecks because of its position in the supply chain and the fact that the automotive industry plays a more important role in Germany’s economy. Current economic projections point to growth between 3½% and 4% in 2021 and a growth rate of 4% to 5% in 2022. The fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, poses a downside risk to the outlook. Following a marked increase of HICP inflation in Austria in the first five months of the year, the inflation rate remained at 2.8% in June and July 2021 and then climbed to 3.2% in August. The rise in inflation measured in 2021 to date was mainly driven by rising energy prices, which accounted for three-fourths of the increase. Close to one-fourth of the rise is attributable to nonenergy industrial goods and food, whereas the latest inflation rate for services was somewhat below the level measured in early 2021. By August, core inflation climbed to 2.5%, 0.5 percentage points beyond the January 2021 value.