Economy: Salzburg severely affected by the Corona crisis
In 2020, the corona pandemic had a negative impact on the development of the economy in all federal states in Austria. In the whole of Austria, real GDP fell by 6.7 percent. “In 2020, the economy, income and employment in all federal states were affected to varying degrees by the COVID-19 pandemic. The strongest declines in economy and employment were in Tyrol,” said Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas in a broadcast on Wednesday . Tourism is by far the most important economic factor in Tyrol. The hotel and catering sector there fell by 38.1 percent in 2020 and is therefore responsible for more than half of the decline in Tyrol’s gross regional product.
In addition to Tyrol, Salzburg, where tourism also plays a major role, was severely affected by the pandemic – the BRP there fell by a total of 7.9 percent. However, the regional economy has been set up somewhat by ongoing beverage production, writes Statistics Austria. In both federal states, the lack of tourism was also felt on the labor market. The number of jobs fell at an above-average rate. In Tyrol it shrank by 3.2 percent in the previous year, in Salzburg it was minus 2.8 percent. In Austria as a whole, the number of jobs decreased by 1.9 percent.
Carinthia with the lowest decline
The Corona crisis against Carinthia was least affected, with a BRP decrease of 5.7 percent. In the state, the decline in tourism, but also in the manufacture of goods, was limited, according to statisticians. Vienna also got off rather lightly with a BPR minus of 5.8 percent. Although the decline in tourism was greatest at 54.4 percent of all federal states, the importance of the industry is as great in the capital as it is in the western federal states. However, support came from the chemical industry, and there was only minimal decline in the production of goods.
Lower Austria and Styria both recorded declines in the BRP of 7.1 percent, said Statistics Austria. In Lower Austria, it was mainly the lack of air traffic that was responsible for this, while in Styria there was a decline in the motor vehicle industry and mechanical engineering. The industrial federal state of Upper Austria also suffered from the declines in these two sectors, but this was somewhat mitigated by below-average losses in trade and transport. In addition, tourism is not as heavy in the region as in other federal states. The economy in the region fell by 5.9 percent.
Salzburg in per capita income in the middle
Vorarlberg’s active businesspeople will benefit from an international dynamic development in trade in 2020. The regional gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 5.8 percent. In Burgenland, the good wine harvest has a positive effect on the balance sheet, the BRP field by 6.3 percent overall. In addition, the 32.9 percent decline in the hotel and catering sector was the second smallest decrease after Carinthia, writes Statistics Austria.
In terms of disposable income per capita, Lower Austria was in first place with 24,900 euros, Vorarlberg with 24,800 euros. The reason was a growth in employee wages in Lower Austria, while there was a negative war in Vorarlberg. A third and fourth place was Burgenland with 24,600 euros and Salzburg with 24,200 euros. Furthermore, Upper Austria at 24,100 euros was still above the Austrian average of 23,700 euros. In contrast, income per capita was below average in Styria (23,600 euros), Tyrol (23,400 euros), Carinthia (23,200 euros) and Vienna (22,200 euros).
(Source: APA)