Austria, with its well-developed market economy, skilled labor force, and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. Following several years of solid foreign demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the international financial crisis of 2008 and subsequent global economic downturn led to a sharp but brief recession. Austrian GDP contracted 3.9% in 2009 but saw positive growth of about 2% in 2010 and 3% in 2011. Unemployment did not rise as steeply in Austria as elsewhere in Europe, partly because the government subsidized reduced working hour schemes to allow companies to retain employees. Stabilization measures, stimulus spending, and an income tax reform pushed the budget deficit to 4.7% in 2010 and 3.6% in 2011, from only about 1.3% in 2008. The international financial crisis of 2008 caused difficulties for Austria''s largest banks whose extensive operations in central, eastern, and southeastern Europe faced large losses. The government provided bank support - including in some instances, nationalization - to support aggregate demand and stabilize the banking system. Austria''s fiscal position compares favorably with other euro-zone countries, but it faces considerable external risks, such as Austrian banks'' continued high exposure to central and eastern Europe as well as political and economic uncertainties caused by the European sovereign debt crisis. In 2011 the government attempted to pass a constitutional amendment limiting public debt to 60% of GDP by 2020, but it was unable to obtain sufficient support in parliament and instead passed the measure as a simple law. In March 2012, the Austrian parliament approved an austerity budget that will bring public finances into balance by 2016.

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

$176.5 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$177.1 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

See entry for the European Union for money supply for the entire euro area; the European Central Bank (ECB) controls monetary policy for the 17 members of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU); individual members of the EMU do not control the quantity of money circulating within their own borders

$411.9 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$401.8 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$639.7 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$526.9 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$82.37 billion (31 December 2011)

$118 billion (31 December 2010)

$107.2 billion (31 December 2009)

Grains, potatoes, wine, fruit; dairy products, cattle, pigs, poultry; lumber

Construction, machinery, vehicles and parts, food, metals, chemicals, lumber and wood processing, paper and paperboard, communications equipment, tourism

50 million bbl (1 January 2011 est.)

16.14 billion cu m (1 January 2011 est.)

Machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs

Germany 32.2%, Italy 7.8%, Switzerland 4.4%, France 4.2% (2011)

Machinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal goods, oil and oil products; foodstuffs

Germany 42.8%, Italy 6.8%, Switzerland 5.6%, Netherlands 4.1% (2011)

$25.17 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$281.4 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$273.3 billion (31 December 2010 est.)

$284.1 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$274.9 billion (31 December 2010 est.)