How International Direct Investment and Skilled Workers Influence the Austrian Economy
A new study deals with the question of the extent to which foreign companies and workers influence Austria's value creation. The results show a clear outcome. Read on if you want to learn more!
International companies and their investments are essential for the domestic economy and contribute one third to Austria's GDP annually. / Picture: © Flickr / Flazingo Photos / www.flazingo.com / [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)]
How important is the activity of international companies and professionals in Austria? A recently published study investigated this question and showed clear results.
The study was commissioned on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Austrian Business Agency (ABA) and proves for the first time the essential contribution of international direct investments, film productions and top professionals to Austria's economy.
International companies and their investments are essential for the domestic economy and contribute one third to Austria's GDP annually. International professionals secure more than half a million jobs through value chains.
The study explains that on average 106.4 billion euros are contributed annually by international companies, their subsidiaries and granddaughters to the domestic economic performance - this corresponds to a GDP contribution of 28.8 percent.
The additional revenue for the state, for example from taxes or social security contributions, amounts to an average of 35.8 billion euros per year. In total, 1.17 million jobs were created or secured by international companies between 2010 and 2020. This corresponds to a share of 26 percent of all jobs.
These calculations take into account the direct effects that arise directly at the companies under consideration, the indirect effects at upstream companies along the value chains, as well as consumption- and investment-induced effects through the income generated by direct and indirect employees and corporate profits.
In the area of research and development (R&D), the figures are similarly impressive. For example, international companies located in Vienna spend about 51.2% of corporate expenditure on R&D in Austria and employ 40.2% of corporate R&D staff.
At 42 percent, the share of exported goods and services by international firms is about twice as high as the Austrian average of 24 percent.
In the overall view of the study on the economic effects of international skilled workers on the location, the 528,000 jobs that were secured or created on average per year through direct, indirect and induced effects are a significant result.
Regionally, the focus is on Vienna, Lower and Upper Austria and Styria. The trend is clearly upward: the number of international skilled workers increased by 89 percent from 2010 to 2019.
Through taxes and public levies, the state's revenue amounted to around 12.8 billion euros annually. These calculations also include direct, indirect and induced effects.