ECI 2019/Q4: Medicine against weak growth

Austria's competitiveness continues to face major challenges. The EcoAustria Competitiveness Index (ECI) has fallen slightly compared to the previous quarter and now stands at 98.0 points. "In times of a cooling economy, companies and consumers are looking forward to the upcoming coalition negotiations with great anticipation, as Austria continues to face major challenges," says Tobias Thomas, Director of the economic research institute EcoAustria. "The best medicine against weak growth is to strengthen competitiveness. The high burden on labor and companies should be significantly reduced. To prevent the tax ratio from rising again, we also need to put an end to cold progression and make the financing of pensions and care demographically stable," says Thomas.

Austria's competitiveness is developing at an average level compared to the rest of Europe. After weaker years, a catch-up process has been evident since the end of 2017. This has also been reflected in the slight improvement in the latest World Economic Forum ranking to 21st place, which, unlike the quarterly EcoAustria Competitiveness Index (ECI), is updated annually.

The current results of the ECI are presented in the EcoAustria Competitiveness Monitor Q4/2019. Details on the methodology of the EcoAustria Competitiveness Index are documented in EcoAustria Research Paper No. 9.