Damper for foreign trade

While Austrian goods exports were still at a volume of 37 billion euros at the time of EU accession (1995), an export record of 201 billion euros was achieved in 2023. However, the foreign trade figures for the first half of 2024 show: The weak global economy, especially in Europe, is also reflected in Austria’s imports and exports this year.

Imports fell by 12.2 percent in the first six months, and exports fell by 5.5 percent. According to Statistics Austria, the total value of imports was 94.05 billion euros, and the value of exported goods was 96.90 billion euros. Austria’s imports from its trading partner Germany fell by 9.3 percent, while exports fell by 7.6 percent.

Strongest increases in exports to the USA, China and Switzerland

Imports also fell sharply from Switzerland, China and Italy. In trade with the ten most important export partners, four countries showed increases and six countries showed decreases. The largest increases were in the United States, China and Switzerland, while the largest decreases were in Germany, Italy and Hungary.

Austria imported goods worth 63.13 billion euros (minus 8.2 percent) from the member states of the European Union in the first half of the year. The value of goods exported to EU countries also fell by 8.4 percent compared to the same period last year and amounted to 65 billion euros. Compared to the same period last year, foreign trade with third countries showed a decrease in imports (minus 19.4 percent to 30.92 billion euros) and a slight increase in exports (plus 0.8 percent to 31.90 billion euros). This resulted in a trade surplus with third countries of 0.98 billion euros. The overall trade balance was positive in the first half of the year at 2.85 billion euros. For the EU countries it was plus 1.87 billion euros.

“Austria’s foreign trade is weakening,” explained Tobias Thomas, General Director of Statistics Austria, when the figures were recently published: “The declining development is due, among other things, to the fact that trade with Germany, by far Austria’s most important trading partner, has been declining for a year With the exception of April 2024, month after month, exports and imports from the neighboring country fell by more than nine percent each month.