Austria vs. Italy
Economy
Austria | Italy | |
---|---|---|
Economy - overview | Austria is a well-developed market economy with skilled labor force and high standard of living. It is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's, but also the US', its third-largest trade partner. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. Austrian economic growth strengthen in 2017, with a 2.9% increase in GDP. Austrian exports, accounting for around 60% of the GDP, were up 8.2% in 2017. Austria's unemployment rate fell by 0.3% to 5.5%, which is low by European standards, but still at its second highest rate since the end of World War II, driven by an increased number of refugees and EU migrants entering the labor market. Austria's fiscal position compares favorably with other euro-zone countries. The budget deficit stood at a low 0.7% of GDP in 2017 and public debt declined again to 78.4% of GDP in 2017, after reaching a post-war high 84.6% in 2015. The Austrian government has announced it plans to balance the fiscal budget in 2019. Several external risks, such as Austrian banks' exposure to Central and Eastern Europe, the refugee crisis, and continued unrest in Russia/Ukraine, eased in 2017, but are still a factor for the Austrian economy. Exposure to the Russian banking sector and a deep energy relationship with Russia present additional risks. Austria elected a new pro-business government in October 2017 that campaigned on promises to reduce bureaucracy, improve public sector efficiency, reduce labor market protections, and provide positive investment incentives. | Italy's economy comprises a developed industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, highly subsidized, agricultural south, with a legacy of unemployment and underdevelopment. The Italian economy is driven in large part by the manufacture of high-quality consumer goods produced by small and medium-sized enterprises, many of them family-owned. Italy also has a sizable underground economy, which by some estimates accounts for as much as 17% of GDP. These activities are most common within the agriculture, construction, and service sectors. Italy is the third-largest economy in the euro zone, but its exceptionally high public debt and structural impediments to growth have rendered it vulnerable to scrutiny by financial markets. Public debt has increased steadily since 2007, reaching 131% of GDP in 2017. Investor concerns about Italy and the broader euro-zone crisis eased in 2013, bringing down Italy's borrowing costs on sovereign government debt from euro-era records. The government still faces pressure from investors and European partners to sustain its efforts to address Italy's longstanding structural economic problems, including labor market inefficiencies, a sluggish judicial system, and a weak banking sector. Italy's economy returned to modest growth in late 2014 for the first time since 2011. In 2015-16, Italy's economy grew at about 1% each year, and in 2017 growth accelerated to 1.5% of GDP. In 2017, overall unemployment was 11.4%, but youth unemployment remained high at 37.1%. GDP growth is projected to slow slightly in 2018. |
GDP (purchasing power parity) | $498.78 billion (2019 est.) $491.803 billion (2018 est.) $479.433 billion (2017 est.) note: data are in 2010 dollars | $2,562,135,000,000 (2019 est.) $2,553,384,000,000 (2018 est.) $2,529,503,000,000 (2017 est.) note: data are in 2010 dollars |
GDP - real growth rate | 1.42% (2019 est.) 2.58% (2018 est.) 2.4% (2017 est.) | 0.34% (2019 est.) 0.83% (2018 est.) 1.73% (2017 est.) |
GDP - per capita (PPP) | $56,188 (2019 est.) $55,631 (2018 est.) $54,496 (2017 est.) note: data are in 2010 dollars | $42,492 (2019 est.) $42,259 (2018 est.) $41,785 (2017 est.) note: data are in 2010 dollars |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: 1.3% (2017 est.) industry: 28.4% (2017 est.) services: 70.3% (2017 est.) | agriculture: 2.1% (2017 est.) industry: 23.9% (2017 est.) services: 73.9% (2017 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 13.3% (2018 est.) | 20.1% (2018 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: 2.8% highest 10%: 23.5% (2012 est.) | lowest 10%: 2.3% highest 10%: 26.8% (2000) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 1.5% (2019 est.) 2% (2018 est.) 2% (2017 est.) | 0.6% (2019 est.) 1.1% (2018 est.) 1.2% (2017 est.) |
Labor force | 3.739 million (2020 est.) | 22.92 million (2020 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture: 0.7% industry: 25.2% services: 74.1% (2017 est.) | agriculture: 3.9% industry: 28.3% services: 67.8% (2011) |
Unemployment rate | 7.35% (2019 est.) 7.7% (2018 est.) | 9.88% (2019 est.) 10.63% (2018 est.) |
Distribution of family income - Gini index | 29.7 (2017 est.) 30.5 (2014) | 35.9 (2017 est.) 27.3 (1995) |
Budget | revenues: 201.7 billion (2017 est.) expenditures: 204.6 billion (2017 est.) | revenues: 903.3 billion (2017 est.) expenditures: 948.1 billion (2017 est.) |
Industries | construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and paper, electronics, tourism | tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics |
Industrial production growth rate | 6.5% (2017 est.) | 2.1% (2017 est.) |
Agriculture - products | milk, maize, sugar beet, wheat, barley, potatoes, pork, triticale, grapes, apples | milk, grapes, wheat, maize, tomatoes, apples, olives, sugar beet, oranges, rice |
Exports | $270.888 billion (2019 est.) $263.145 billion (2018 est.) $249.312 billion (2017 est.) | $687.34 billion (2019 est.) $678.788 billion (2018 est.) $667.866 billion (2017 est.) |
Exports - commodities | cars, packaged medical supplies, vehicle parts, medical vaccines/cultures, flavored water (2019) | packaged medicines, cars and vehicle parts, refined petroleum, valves, trunks/cases, wine (2019) |
Exports - partners | Germany 28%, United States 7%, Italy 6%, Switzerland 5% (2019) | Germany 12%, France 11%, United States 10%, United Kingdom 5%, Spain 5%, Switzerland 5% (2019) |
Imports | $253.276 billion (2019 est.) $247.225 billion (2018 est.) $235.385 billion (2017 est.) | $647.058 billion (2019 est.) $649.963 billion (2018 est.) $631.54 billion (2017 est.) |
Imports - commodities | cars, vehicle parts, broadcasting equipment, refined petroleum, packaged medical supplies (2019) | crude petroleum, cars, packaged medicines, natural gas, refined petroleum (2019) |
Imports - partners | Germany 39%, Italy 7%, Czechia 5% (2019) | Germany 16%, France 9%, China 7%, Spain 5%, Netherlands 5%, Belgium 5% (2019) |
Debt - external | $688.434 billion (2019 est.) $686.196 billion (2018 est.) | $2,463,208,000,000 (2019 est.) $2,533,153,000,000 (2018 est.) |
Exchange rates | euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.82771 (2020 est.) 0.90338 (2019 est.) 0.87789 (2018 est.) 0.885 (2014 est.) 0.7634 (2013 est.) | euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.82771 (2020 est.) 0.90338 (2019 est.) 0.87789 (2018 est.) 0.885 (2014 est.) 0.7634 (2013 est.) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Public debt | 78.6% of GDP (2017 est.) 83.6% of GDP (2016 est.) note: this is general government gross debt, defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year; it covers the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises the sub-sectors of central government, state government, local government and social security funds; as a percentage of GDP, the GDP used as a denominator is the gross domestic product in current year prices | 131.8% of GDP (2017 est.) 132% of GDP (2016 est.) note: Italy reports its data on public debt according to guidelines set out in the Maastricht Treaty; general government gross debt is defined in the Maastricht Treaty as consolidated general government gross debt at nominal value, outstanding at the end of the year, in the following categories of government liabilities (as defined in ESA95): currency and deposits (AF.2), securities other than shares excluding financial derivatives (AF.3, excluding AF.34), and loans (AF.4); the general government sector comprises central, state, and local government and social security funds |
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | $21.57 billion (31 December 2017 est.) $23.36 billion (31 December 2016 est.) | $151.2 billion (31 December 2017 est.) $130.6 billion (31 December 2015 est.) |
Current Account Balance | $12.667 billion (2019 est.) $5.989 billion (2018 est.) | $59.517 billion (2019 est.) $51.735 billion (2018 est.) |
GDP (official exchange rate) | $445.025 billion (2019 est.) | $2,002,763,000,000 (2019 est.) |
Credit ratings | Fitch rating: AA+ (2015) Moody's rating: Aa1 (2016) Standard & Poors rating: AA+ (2012) | Fitch rating: BBB- (2020) Moody's rating: Baa3 (2018) Standard & Poors rating: BBB (2017) |
Ease of Doing Business Index scores | Overall score: 78.7 (2020) Starting a Business score: 83.2 (2020) Trading score: 100 (2020) Enforcement score: 75.5 (2020) | Overall score: 72.9 (2020) Starting a Business score: 86.8 (2020) Trading score: 100 (2020) Enforcement score: 53.1 (2020) |
Taxes and other revenues | 48.3% (of GDP) (2017 est.) | 46.6% (of GDP) (2017 est.) |
Budget surplus (+) or deficit (-) | -0.7% (of GDP) (2017 est.) | -2.3% (of GDP) (2017 est.) |
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 8.5% male: 9.2% female: 7.8% (2019 est.) | total: 29.2% male: 27.8% female: 31.2% (2019 est.) |
GDP - composition, by end use | household consumption: 52.1% (2017 est.) government consumption: 19.5% (2017 est.) investment in fixed capital: 23.5% (2017 est.) investment in inventories: 1.6% (2017 est.) exports of goods and services: 54.2% (2017 est.) imports of goods and services: -50.7% (2017 est.) | household consumption: 61% (2017 est.) government consumption: 18.6% (2017 est.) investment in fixed capital: 17.5% (2017 est.) investment in inventories: -0.2% (2017 est.) exports of goods and services: 31.4% (2017 est.) imports of goods and services: -28.3% (2017 est.) |
Gross national saving | 28.5% of GDP (2019 est.) 26.9% of GDP (2018 est.) 26.3% of GDP (2017 est.) | 21% of GDP (2019 est.) 21% of GDP (2018 est.) 20.6% of GDP (2017 est.) |
Source: CIA Factbook