Consumption has continued to deteriorate

Caution and pessimism continue to dominate in Austria. This is shown by the results of the economic barometer, which was created by the Linz polling institute Spectra for the OÖN and the federal state newspapers (details in the chart).

If one compares the data collected from July with those from March, it can be seen that pessimism is steadily increasing. “The determining factors are well known: Pandemic, war, energy supply and inflation are an unspeakable combination and are closely interwoven,” says Spectra Managing Director Peter Bruckmüller, summarizing the situation.

For the third quarter in a row, Austrians are closing their wallets more and more, the consumer climate is “continuing to plummet,” says Bruckmüller. A trend that, according to Bruckmüller, “unfortunately will continue in the near future”. Inflation also plays a key role here: the impression among Austrians that they can afford less than a year ago has never been as pronounced as it is now.

As expected, Austrians are also pessimistic about economic development. The proportion of optimists has again fallen significantly from 21 to 14 percent. (fep)