Austria
Austria’s present boundaries encompass 83,870 square kilometers and were established in 1919 at the Treaty of St. Germain. Its strategic location contains the north/south routes between Germany and Italy and the southwest routes into Western Europe. The capital city is Vienna, with a population of 1.68 million, and the primary language is German. Austria’s total population is about 8.22 million and is growing at 0.02% with 68% living in urban areas. The people are governed by a federal parliamentary democracy and are predominately Roman Catholic. Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and adopted the Euro as currency in 1999.
Austria’s primary trading partners are the European Union, namely Germany, along with Switzerland, the U.S. and China. Exports include iron and steel products, timber, paper, textiles, machinery and foodstuffs. Imports consist primarily of machinery and equipment, fuels, vehicles, chemicals and foodstuffs. Austria’s GDP (Purchasing Power Parity)is $364.9 billion and is growing at a real rate of 0.8% with an inflation rate of 2.6%. Austria ranked 29 out of 185 countries in the World Bank Group’s Ease of Doing Business Ranking.
| Demographic Data | Economic Data | Cultural & Other Data | |||
| Area (sq. km.) | 83,871 | GDP (PPP, $bn) | 364.9 | Capital | Vienna |
| Population (million) | 8.221 | GDP Real Growth (%) | 0.8 | Other Large Cities | Gray, Ling, Salzburg |
| Population Growth (%) | 0.02 | per Cap GDP ($) | 43,100 | Primary Language | German |
| Population Under 15yrs (%) | 13.7 | Prime Lending Rate (%) | 2.4 | Urbanization (%) | 68 |
| Population below poverty line (%) | 6.2 | Inflation Rate% | 2.6 | Urban Growth (%) | 0.6 |
| Agricultural Workers (% of the population) | 5.5 | Unemployment% | 4.3 | Literacy (population %) | 98 |
| Industrial Workers (% of the population) | 26 | Foreign Direct Investment ($bn) | 204.2 | Education spending % of GDP | 6 |
| Service Workers (% of the population) | 68.5 | Debt-External($bn) | 808.1 | CPI Score (1-100)* | 69 |
| Labor Force (mil) | 4.43 | Exports ($bn) | 163.1 | Corporate Income Tax % | 25 |
| Imports ($bn) | 170.5 | Ease of Doing Business Ranking ** | 29 |
Click the links below for articles with more information on Franchising in Austria
Doing Business in Austria(2012)
Reform of European Union Rules on Distribution(2010)
European Commission's New Block Exemption Rules Enter Into Force June 1(2010)
US Commercial Service Market Report(2009)
* CPI Score is published by Transparency International and relates to the perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people and country analysts and ranges between 100 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).
**Ease of Doing Business Ranking is determined by the World Bank Group and is ranked out of a possible 185 countries.www.doingbusiness.org
Most recent statistics have been taken from the CIA World Factbook unless noted otherwise.