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Since 1955, the year in which Austria declared independence after being occupied by the Allied Forces, the economy has progressed at a rapid rate and is one of the most advanced economies in the West. Austria is a member of a number of organizations such as the EU, EMU and the OECD. Austria's trade surplus in 2004 was estimated to be in excess of 4 billion dollars. Direct foreign investments (FDI) were assessed in 2004 at 4.1 billion dollars. The service sector contributes approximately 71% to the Austrian economy, industry approximately 26% and the balance has its source in agriculture and forestry at about 3%. The main exports from Austria comprise machinery and equipment, clothing and toys. The main imports to Austria are machinery and equipment, chemicals and fuel. Austria's main trading partners are Germany, Italy and the USA. In 2004, some 32% of exports were to Germany. Exports to Italy accounted for some 9% and approximately 6% of exports were to the USA. The main imports into Austria in 2004 were from Germany (approximately 43%) Italy (approximately 7%) and from France (approximately 4%). From the aspect of natural resources, oil, wood, copper, salt, zinc, lead and more are to be found in Austria. An analysis of the main indices shows that the GDP in Austria increased by approximately 1% per annum in 2001 - 2003. Inflation in these same years dropped from 2.7% in 2001 to 1.4% in 2003. The unemployment rate forecast for Austria for 2004 is 4.5%, a slight increase over the rates for 2002 and 2003. The per capita GDP in Austria is higher than that of the UK, Germany and Japan. According to the CIA Factbook, the per capita GDP (PPP) was 31,300 dollars in 2004 compared with a world average of $8,800 per capita. |
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