Austria's Business Location in 2026: A Year of Records and Strategic Realignment
Despite a challenging global economic environment and geopolitical uncertainties, the Austrian Business Agency (ABA) has achieved remarkable results for 2025. With a record number of consultations and targeted investments of around €900 million, Austria is positioning itself as a resilient location in the heart of Europe.
At the same time, with its Industry Strategy 2035, the Austrian government has set the course to lead the country into the top 10 most competitive OECD countries in the long term. / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons / Fabian Lackner [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
In 2025, ABA recorded a total of 26,736 consultations for international companies, skilled workers, and film productions—the highest figure since the agency's founding. These consultations resulted in 283 company relocations and expansions, which not only generated investments of approximately € 900 million in the country but also created over 2,700 new jobs.
René Tritscher, Managing Director of ABA, emphasizes the significance of this achievement in an interview with Selektiv: “Despite the difficult conditions – geopolitical upheavals and economic weakness in our traditionally strongest market, Germany – 2025 was an exceptionally successful year for us.” The decline in Germany was successfully offset by gains in other regions, particularly in North America and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).
Diversification and focus on future technologies
This success is based on a targeted diversification strategy. While Western Europe remains the strongest region with 112 projects, ABA recorded growing interest from Eastern Europe, with Hungary taking second place among the countries of origin for the first time. Companies from the US and Canada are also increasingly valuing Austria as a strategic “gateway” to the EU single market.
In terms of industries, the information and communication technology (ICT) sector leads the ranking with 72 projects supported. Pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and life sciences also play a central role, which is exactly in line with the new industrial strategy.
Industry Strategy 2035: The compass for the future
With the Industry Strategy 2035 presented at the beginning of 2026, the Austrian federal government is defining a binding framework for the coming years. The aim is to strengthen the industrial base, facilitate investment, and accelerate processes.
The key points of the strategy include promoting innovation, with €2.6 billion to be invested in research and development for nine defined key technologies (including quantum technology, photonics, robotics, and life sciences) by 2029. Competitiveness will be achieved through 114 concrete measures, modernized funding instruments, and a planned industrial electricity price from 2027 onwards, ensuring the resilience of the location. The acceleration of procedures aims to make approval processes for infrastructure projects more efficient.
Skilled workers as a critical success factor
Despite a strong domestic pool of skilled workers thanks to the dual education system, recruiting international talent is essential for the Austrian industry. ABA acts as a central hub in this regard: over 21,000 consultations with international skilled workers and their families were held in 2025 alone – an increase of 31% over the previous year.
Tritscher emphasizes that in the future, recruitment will focus even more strongly on key technologies and look beyond Europe geographically. In addition to the US, regions such as Latin America (e.g., Brazil) and Asia (e.g., the Philippines, Indonesia) are increasingly coming into focus, with bilateral agreements forming the basis for a regulated exchange.
The digitization of the service offering is intended to further accelerate this process. ABA plans to launch a large skilled worker portal in fall 2026, which will bring Austrian companies and international talent together even more effectively in the digital realm.