The EU Commission is downgrading its growth forecast for Austria. She only expects an increase of 0.3 percent for 2023. In 2024, growth is expected to pick up again at 1.1 percent. For the current year 2022, the EU authority predicts an increase of 4.6 percent in its autumn forecast published on Friday. Inflation will fall from 8.7 percent this year to 6.7 percent in 2023 and 3.3 percent in 2024, the commission expects.
In its summer forecast from July, the EU Commission had still expected an increase of 1.5 percent in Austria for 2023. For 2022, she had predicted growth of 3.7 percent. In July, the commission rated inflation even lower at 7.4 percent (2022) and 4.4 percent (2023). The drivers of inflation are the high energy prices, especially electricity and gas, which the EU Commission now expects will only slowly decrease at the end of 2023.
In its autumn forecast, the EU Commission is also forecasting growth of just 0.3 percent for the entire euro zone in the coming year. In 2024, the economy in the euro zone is then expected to grow again by 1.5 percent. For 2022, the EU authority still expects an increase of 3.2 percent in the euro area. The expected inflation for the entire euro zone is 8.5 percent this year, 6.1 percent in 2023 and 2.6 percent in 2024.
The EU authority estimates that the labor market in Austria will be relatively stable over the next two years. The EU Commission attributes this to an expected higher proportion of women and older people in the workforce. The unemployment rate in Austria will therefore increase slightly from 5.0 percent this year to 5.2 percent in 2023 and 5.3 percent in 2024.
The EU authority expects Austria to further reduce its budget deficit. For 2022, the Commission expects a deficit of 2.8 percent, for 2024 it predicts new debt of 1.9 percent, compared to 3.4 percent in the current year. Total Austrian debt is also expected to fall from 78.5 percent of economic output this year to 76.6 percent in the coming year and 74.9 percent in 2024.
Source: Nachrichten
