Austria Sees Muted Growth to 2017 on Euro Slowdown, Wifo Says

Austria’s economic growth will be muted over the next five years because of continued weakness in the euro zone and weak consumption at home, the state-supported Wifo research institute said.

Gross domestic product, the value of goods and services, will increase an average 1.7 percent annually through 2017, Wifo said today in an e-mail.

“After the 2012 dip in growth, the economic outlook in the medium term remains muted,” Vienna-based Wifo said. “The expansion won’t be enough to reduce unemployment trends.”

Austrian unemployment will grow to about 7.2 percent in 2017 from 7 percent last year, according to Wifo. The institute confirmed its GDP growth forecasts of 1 percent this year and 1.8 percent in 2014. Economic growth in the period will peak in 2015 at 2 percent, Wifo said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net