National economy of Austria - industries, GDP and prosperity level

Austria is by far one of the most developed countries in Europe. Various branches of the economy, from traditional tourism to aerospace inventions and production, are well-developed. Austria is rich in iron ore and magnesite. The country has a lot of reserves of brown coal, oil, and natural gas. At the same time, the country's policy is still focused on importing an energy resource. There is an acute shortage of coal. The needs of the population in such raw materials are fully covered by imports. There are many hydroelectric power stations on the territory of the country. A part of the energy produced is exported. Most of the territory of Austria is covered with forests, which was an impetus for the woodworking industry.

About 25% of the country's total GDP is held by industry. The country has more than 7 000 enterprises, of which only two percent are large ones. The automotive industry is concentrated on the production of gearboxes; almost all the goods are exported. In the field of electronic technology, mostly different chips are produced, which are also designed for export. The overwhelming number of factories works to sell modern industrial equipment. Austria is actively engaged in the extraction of coal, iron ore, dolomite, graphite, tungsten, zinc, lead, magnesite, limestone, and marble. However, the constantly growing expanding industry forces the state to begin importing such natural resources.

Due to the fact that the volume of production of raw materials is constantly decreasing and the dependence on imported products is constantly increasing, there is a decrease in the mining industry. At the same time, the importance of manufactures, which produce goods, including the innovative equipment, and designs of modern technologies, increases multifold. The largest companies of the country are Dorotheum, which is the trade organization, Ebag specializing in mining, Austria Tabak, Beler-uddeholm, Fest-Alpine Technologies producing equipment for metallurgy and power engineering, Austrian Airlinks, Oesterreichs Mineral Ferval Tung for oil and gas production. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

About 40% of the land of Austria is used as an agricultural land. For the most part, crops, fruits and grapes are grown. Meadows and pastures for cattle occupy about 57%. The Alpine lowlands are considered to be the most fertile. More than 91% of the total Austrian-produced food is consumed by the population. Exports of meat and dairy products isn’t that large. The country also exports wheat and corn. The number of Austrian products in the total world exports of agricultural products is 4%. The transport system of Austria is well-developed. There are more than 6 thousand km of railways in the country, as well as about 1 500 km of modern high-speed autobahns. An average of about 5 million tons of cargo are transported by Danube river annually. This is mostly coal, coke, oil, fertilizers, and metals.

Despite the fact that Austria is a fairly well-developed industrial country, only 60 000 citizens are involved in the secondary industry. The overwhelming majority of the population is engaged in retail trade, banking, education, and tourism. At the same time, the latter branch makes a huge contribution to the overall economic structure of the country. The gross inflow of income from tourism at the end of the 2000s was about 12 billion euros. The complex reform of the social security system is of great economic importance. Social insurance is mandatory for all citizens who work in non-dependent areas. Both employees and employers themselves make a variety of social contributions to the state. That is why insurance cases are highly paid, pensioners have an opportunity to receive a decent pension, free medical care is provided, and there is a high-interest insurance against accidents and unemployment.

In terms of its economic development, Austria is ahead of many members of the European Union, including Sweden, England, Italy, and Germany. GDP per capita in the late 2000's was about 27.4 thousand euros. This indicator is constantly growing. The total GDP was about 230 billion euros. The Austrian economy is characterized by an extremely low unemployment rate, which is 4% of the total number of able-bodied citizens. There is virtually no inflation; it makes less than 1.5%. The country has a very high standard of living, thanks to the strong trade and financial and economic relations. The membership in the EU contributed to the emergence of major investment projects. The government of the country has successfully carried out various economic reforms for several decades, which brought huge dividends.