Austria

AUSTRIA
* POPULATION

The population is 8,210,281, and 99% of its population speak german language.
Austria is fully integrated into the group of Western industrialized countries. Their standard of living is somewhat lower than in Switzerland, but higher than in Italy and bordering countries in the East.
Austria has a highly developed commercial sector. The main business in the countryis Vienna, followed by Salzburg. In recent years, retail has been under increasing concentration. Some foreign groups, mainly of German origin, dominate the commercial sector, and particularly in the jewelry sector.

Source: INDEXMUNDI

Age structure:
0-14 years: 14.5% (male 609,748/female 581,144)
15-64 years: 67.5% (male 2,785,091/female 2,756,402)
65 years and over: 18% (male612,613/female 865,283) (2009 est.)

* ECONOMICS
According to preliminary estimates by the Austrian Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) on behalf of STATISTICS AUSTRIA the Austrian economy grew by 1.8% in 2008. Thus, this means an obvious slowdown in growth against the background of a demanding international environment, following significant growth rates in 2006 (+3.4%) and 2007 (+3.1%).Nevertheless, the growth was still remarkable, compared to most other EU and OECD countries. The average growth rate for the EU countries was +0.9%, the average economic growth of the Euro Zone (15) was +0.7% (Source: Eurostat Databank, June 2009). The average growth rate for the OECD countries was +0.9%, too (Source: OECD, Main Economic Indicators, June 2009).
Gross domestic product (GDP) at currentprices rose by € 11.4 bn, or 4.2%, to approximately € 282.3 bn in 2008. Hence, GDP per inhabitant amounted to € 33.830 (+3.9%). As regards the output approach by industry, energy and wáter supply achieved the most conspicuous growth rate (+7,0% in real terms), followed by the hotel and restaurant branch, which grew by +4,1% in real terms. Industry in total (including energy and construction) grew by2.9% in real terms and, thus, increased evidently stronger than the service sector did (+1.4% in real terms). Financial intermediation and insurance services faced a substantial setback by -1.9% in real terms. The slowdown in manufacturing was reflected in a damped growth in the export of goods and services, which incremented by +2.8% at current prices and +1.7% in real terms, respectively.Domestic demand, on the other hand, was predominantly shaped by gross capital formation (+3.3% in real terms). Gross fixed capital formation alone grew only by 1.8% in real terms. Final household consumption expenditure incremented by +3.9% at current prices and +0.8% in real terms, respectively. The increase in government final consumption expenditure was +4.4%. Net national disposable income rose by4.7% up to 233.0 bn. Compensation of employees (i.e. the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to an employee) increased by 5.2% and, hence, outraged the growth of operating surplus and mixed income (+3.5%) for the first time in nine years. The implicit price index of GDP (derived from the GDP at current prices and at constant prices respectively, based on previous year’sprices) was 102.4.
Hence, the overall price development was significantly less than the change of the consumer prices index (+3.2%).

* INFLATION:
The Monetary Union’s goal to create a long-lasting community of stability needs a solid economical basis which will be analyzed and observed with the help of the following four convergence criteria.
The first criteria is price stability whichis a good example showing the necessity for statistical harmonization. The national consumer price indices, a significant means of recording inflation as well as fundamental negotiations for wages, salaries, retirements and other various value guarantees, etc. on a national level, all differ considerably from one another in their methods. In order to determine comparable inflation rates, the...