Press release: 12.703-001/22

Strong increase for regional foreign trade in first half year 2021

Vienna, 2022-01-03 – In the first half year 2021, all Austrian federal states registered increases compared to the first half year 2020, according to preliminary results by Statistics Austria.

"After heavy losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, regional foreign trade showed clear signs of recovery in the first half of 2021. Most Austrian federal states were able to regain or even surpass their pre-crisis levels. The increase in exports was particularly strong in Vorarlberg, at more than +25%. On the import side, Upper Austria achieved the largest increase with a plus of 28.4%," says Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas.

In the first half of 2021, Austrian foreign trade increased by +22.9% for imports and +17.3% for exports. All nine federal states recorded a growth in exports compared to the first half of 2020. The largest relative increase on the export side was registered in Vorarlberg (+25.9% or +€1.26 bn), followed by Styria (+23.9% or +€2.50 bn) and Upper Austria (+22.7% or +€3.91 bn). Vienna, which showed the most stable development on the export side in the first half of 2020, recorded with +1.5% in the first half of 2021 the lowest growth of all nine federal states. Similar to the export side, all nine federal states were also able to achieve substantial increases in imports. On the import side, Upper Austria (+28.4% or +€3.74 bn), Salzburg (+24.6% or +€1.40 bn) and Vienna (+24.3% or +€4.13 bn) showed the strongest relative increases. Tyrol, which was the only federal state with a positive development in the first half of 2020, recorded with +11.5% or +€0.70 bn the lowest growth in the first half of 2021.

The exports of goods from Austria amounted to a total of €80.35 bn. in the first half of 2021. With more than one quarter, Upper Austria had the largest share in the overall Austrian exports (€21.11 bn, 26.3%). Styria was the federal state with the second highest export values (€12.94 bn or 16.1%), followed by Lower Austria (€11.80 bn or 14.7%) and Vienna (€10.57 bn or 13.2%). In the first half year of 2021 the imports of Austria totalled €85.60 bn. With a value of €21.11 bn, Vienna had the highest share on the import side (24.7%), followed by Upper Austria (€16.91 bn or 19.8%) and Lower Austria (€14.01 bn or 16.4%). In terms of trade intensity (sum of imports and exports), Upper Austria, Vienna and Lower Austria were the federal states with the highest foreign trade values.

For more detailed information please refer to the German version.