A Luxembourg trade delegation will be visiting Austria in the context of a State Visit from 15 to 17 April 2013.
The country’s economy has been closely linked to that of Germany, its largest trading partner, but this has dissipated somewhat since Austria joined the European Union in 1995. The country’s economy is dominated by small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Its service sector generates the vast majority of the country’s GDP, of which 10% comes from tourism – 23 million visited Austria in 2011 – particularly its winter ski resorts.
Austria’s main exports are made up of mechanical engineering and terotechnology, vehicles and automotive parts, medical and pharmaceutical products, iron, steel and metal goods, paper and cardboard. Vienna represents the seat of the country’s financial services. It also has a sizeable food and drink industry.
The emerging markets of central and eastern Europe have had a significant impact on the Austrian economy in recent years, with exports growing to around 18%, and Austrian firms investing in labour-intensive and low-tech production facilities there.
In this four-year period, Luxembourg exports to Austria have increased from €206 million to €220 million, whereas Luxembourg imports from Austria have dropped from €167 million to €154 million.
The main trade between the two countries has been in the following four categories.