Economic output in 2021 was only 97.4 percent of the value of 2019, Statistics Austria announced yesterday.
In the fourth quarter, real economic output was 5.5 percent higher than in the same quarter of the previous year, but the lockdown slowed down development compared to the third quarter. From October to December, gross domestic product (GDP) fell by a seasonally and calendar adjusted 1.5 percent in real terms compared to the previous quarter.
The economic growth of 4.5 percent for the year as a whole was supported by almost all sectors, said Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas in a press conference. “Industry, mining, and the manufacture of goods developed particularly well with a plus of nine percent. In trade, the plus was 7.3 percent. Other economic services also increased. These include, for example, consulting, but also temporary work. The growth was 7.7 percent in this area.” Only accommodation and gastronomy shrank by 15.9 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year.
Weak final quarter
In the fourth quarter of 2021, Austrian economic output had reached 99.4 percent of the pre-crisis level, after having even been 100.8 percent above the comparable quarter of 2019 in the third quarter. The lockdown measures would have pushed the economy back below the pre-crisis level in the final quarter, said Thomas.
“In January 2022, the employment figures were already well above the pre-crisis level at 102.8 percent,” said Statistics Austria boss Thomas. “The use of short-time work, which at times very much contained the economic consequences of the corona crisis, has also decreased significantly.”
On the other hand, the number of vacancies at 171,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021 also reached the highest value since Statistics Austria began collecting data in 2009. “This is also an indicator of the increasing shortage of skilled workers,” said Thomas.
Source: Nachrichten
