After the economy recovered somewhat between the first two lockdowns, there was another slump towards the end of the year.
The corona crisis made the economy very difficult in 2020. After a slight upturn was observed between the first two lockdowns, domestic economic output plummeted again at the end of the year. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the Austrian gross domestic product (GDP) was 4.3 percent below the previous quarter, in which there had been an increase of 12 percent between the shutdowns.
As the economic research institute (WIFO) announced on Friday, GDP fell by 7.8 percent year-on-year after a minus of 4.2 percent was recorded in the third quarter and a minus of 14.2 percent in the second.
As the institute further describes, the restrictions in the second lockdown mainly affected consumer spending by private households and value added in the service sectors. In the last quarter tourism, trade, traffic and the areas of entertainment and recreation recorded significant losses, according to WIFO. In contrast, the construction and industrial sectors were more stable.
As the “APA” reports, the added value in trade, accommodation, gastronomy and transport fell in the last three months of 2020 compared to the previous quarter by almost 20 percent (19.7%). Other services, such as hairdressing, arts and entertainment, saw a decline of 25.2 percent, according to WIFO. In the third quarter, these two divisions had increased by 32.9 and 39.2 percent, respectively, while from April to June they had shrunk by 21.2 and 26.9 percent in the quarterly interval.
By contrast, the industrial and construction sectors fared better towards the end of the year. In the fourth quarter, added value in the industry increased by 1.0 percent, in the construction industry it was 1.6 percent below the previous quarter, according to WIFO.
With regard to foreign trade, a global downturn continued to be observed. Exports fell by 1.1 percent on a quarterly basis (after a 16.1 percent increase in the third quarter and 18.4 percent decrease in the second quarter, compared to the previous quarter), according to the “APA”. Imports fell by 0.7 percent (after +12.1 percent and -17.4 percent before).
