Wifo and IHS will present their summer forecast for economic development in 2024 and 2025 on Wednesday. The latest economic data, including the decline in industrial production and the construction sector, give little hope for an improvement in the situation.
In the most recent three forecasts, the two institutes have continually lowered their forecasts, most recently forecasting only 0.2 to 0.5 percent economic growth in March.
Austria lags behind
At the beginning of June, Wifo boss Gabriel Felbermayr gave a rather pessimistic view until 2025: “Unfortunately, in our forecasts we see that in terms of GDP per capita in 2025 we will not yet be where we were before the Corona crisis, while the Eurozone is already above pre-crisis levels,” he said.
Unemployment rises to 6.9 percent
Wifo and IHS also update their inflation and unemployment forecasts. In March, they expected consumer price inflation to be 3.8 and 3.5 percent, respectively. Although this was a halving of the previous year, it was above the eurozone average and also well above the European Central Bank’s target. According to the March forecast, the unemployment rate according to the national definition is expected to rise to around 6.9 percent this year.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
