Austria

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Country summary

Capital

Vienna

Borders

Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330 km, Switzerland 164 km

Government type

federal republic

Population

8,210,281 (July 2010 est.)[1]

Population growth

0.052% (2010 est.)[1]

Life expectancy

79.5 years[1]

Unemployment

4.8% (2009 est.)[1]

Index of Economic Freedom

22[2]

Corruption Perceptions Index

16[3]

Doing Business ranking

28[4]


Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal. The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. In January 2009, Austria assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2009-10 term.[1]

Economical characteristics

  • Currency: Euro (ISO code: EUR)
  • Central bank discount rate: [1]
  • Commercial banks lending rate: 6.82% (31 December 2008)[1]
  • is part of the Eurozone

Notable events:

  • Banking crisis: May 1873-1874, 1924, November 1929[5]
  • Hyperinflation: 1921-1922
  • Years in inflation: 13.3% (share of years 1800-2009 with annual inflation above 20 per cent per annum)
  • Public default: 1802-1815, 1816, 1868-1870, 1914-1915, 1932-1933, 1938, 1940-1952 (external), 1945 (domestic)[6]

Statistics

Statistic / Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
GDP (million USD)[7] 210 930 191 200 190 155 205 955 252 034 289 026 304 008 322 788 370 684 413 503
Govt. debt (% of GDP)[8] 65.717 65.884 66.372 68.677 67.504 67.247 67.719 63.896 60.052 64.543
Govt. revenue (% of GDP)[9] 38.380 37.835 39.693 38.824 38.680 38.795 37.743 37.240 37.486 37.353
Govt. expenses (% of GDP)[10] 41.408 40.617 41.065 40.751 41.099 44.078 40.097 39.518 38.782 38.367
Debt to revenue (years) 1.712 1.741 1.672 1.769 1.745 1.733 1.794 1.716 1.602 1.728

References

Note: statistical data was rounded. Different sources may use different methodologies for their estimates. Debt to revenue is calculated by dividing the two variables from their original ('unrounded') values. It represents how long it would a government take to repay its entire debt if it used its whole revenue for this purpose.

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 CIA - The World Factbook. "Austria", from The World Factbook. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  2. Heritage Foundation. "Austria", Economic Freedom Score. A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  3. Transparency International. "Austria", Corruption Perceptions Index 2009. A lower ranking is better; but please note that the numbers cannot be compared between countries or years due to different methodology. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  4. Doing Business. "Austria", Doing Business 2010 (part of The World Bank Group). A lower ranking is better; but please be careful when comparing between different countries or years. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  5. Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff. "This Time is Different", Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-14216-6, p. 350-351. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  6. Carmen M. Reinhart. "This Time is Different Chartbook: Country Histories on Debt, Default, and Financial Crises" (pdf), March 3, 2010, p. 21. (The list does not claim to be complete.) Referenced 2011-07-19.
  7. World Bank. "Austria: GDP", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  8. World Bank. "Austria: government debt", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  9. World Bank. "Austria: government revenue", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.
  10. World Bank. "Austria: government expenses", from World Bank Data. Referenced 2010-09-29.

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