World Champion Austria Vienna
Vienna – a city benefitting from its economic diversity Christian C. Pochtler, President of the Viennese Federation of Industries, and Walter Ruck, head of the Vienna Economic Chamber, talk about the challenges facing Austria’s capital city.
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© Manuel Ortlechner
he Covid crises plunged Vienna into a deep recession. The gross added value fell by 5.6 percent in 2020, even though it is actually less than the decrease in Austria overall (–6.4 percent) thanks to a less dramatic slump in the first half of the year. The consolidation after summer was also negative, however – minus 4.8 percent (–4.6 percent nationwide). The decrease stems entirely from the Viennese service
Christian C. Pochtler, President of the Viennese Federation of Industries
sector (tourism, transport, culture and leisure), says the Austrian Institute of Economic Research WIFO (Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung). Employment went down by 2.4 percent in the annual average of 2020 (- 2 percent nationwide), but part of it came down to a statistical one-time effect. WIFO expects a strong economic recovery during the remainder of the calendar year thanks to the re-opening of businesses and the continuing solid upswing in international (industrial goods) trade. This will give Vienna a growth in added value of real 3.6 percent and in increase in employment by 2 percent in the annual average of 2021 – despite the country being mostly in lockdown from January to May. Vienna will follow the nationwide upwards trend (+3.9 percent and +2.1 percent respectively) with a slight lag resulting from the very slow recovery of the international trade in services and thus urban tourism, which is of course an important economic factor for Vienna. Regional employment will also recover along the strong upwards trend. But even WIFO warns that this outlook should be regarded with caution: There is a high number of uncertainties affecting any prognoses on the economic development this year. But enough of boring numbers. Christian C. Pochtler, President of the Viennese Federation of Industries, and Walter Ruck, head of Vienna Economic Chamber, will tell us their views. Mr Pochtler, Mr Ruck, how are the Viennese businesses doing at the moment? Christian C. Pochtler: Vienna’s industrial sector was able to keep working almost continuously during the pandemic and remains the economy’s engine in times of crises. Still, this period has been and continues to be a big challenge for many of our members, particularly in sectors where they depend on interna-
