External trade

The Austrian economy is strongly integrated into the global economy. The balance of payments captures these close international trade relations. Austria’s most important trade partners are the countries of the euro area, especially Germany, as well as the USA, China and Switzerland.

Austria’s external trade – importance

External trade encompasses all economic relations a country has with other countries – that is, exports and imports of goods and services, cross-border capital flows and investments. For Austria, its external sector is of paramount importance. A significant share of its economic output stems from its ties with other countries.

Austria is closely integrated into the global economy. This applies both to trade in goods and services and to capital movements, such as direct investment. Tourism is also an important source of revenue for the Austrian economy. The euro area is by far the most important partner region, with Germany playing a prominent role. However, other economies such as the USA, China and Switzerland are also very important trading partners.

Capturing Austria’s external trade

On this page, we provide an overview of key indicators for external trade:

  • balance of payments and international investment position
    - portfolio investment
    - other investment
  • services statistics
  • foreign direct investment statistics

You can find detailed information on external trade in our data section. Our data cover information on Austria’s balance of payments, including details of the current account, as well as on the international investment position, broken down by partner regions. Furthermore, international trade in services and Austrian foreign direct investment are presented, broken down by sectors and employee figures. We also provide a breakdown of trade in services by mode of supply.

Data
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Key indicators for Austria

  • Current account balance

  • Net international investment position

  • Net travel and tourism revenues

Balance of payments

The balance of payments is an important tool for economic policy analysis. It allows conclusions about the international integration and stability of a national economy in an international context. It records all economic transactions with other countries. This applies both to the real economy – trade in goods and services, income from employment and capital, and transfer payments – and to the financial sector, i.e. international capital flows comprising foreign direct investment (cross-border corporate investments), portfolio investment (cross-border investment in securities), other investments (cross-border loans and bank deposits) and cross-border financial derivatives, as well as foreign exchange reserves.

Developments in the real economy are primarily reflected in the current account and in capital transfers, while financial transactions are reflected in the capital account.

The international investment position (IIP) shows financial assets and financial liabilities vis-à-vis other countries – in contrast to the capital account, which reflects financial transactions. Methodically, it builds upon the international conventions introduced by the IMF’s Balance of Payments Manual and the System of National Accounts.

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Services

Services include, for example, transport, travel, insurance and financial services, consultancy services, technical services, charges for the use of intellectual property. Transactions are recorded at market value. Credit values refer to Austria’s exports of services; debit values refer to Austria’s imports of services.

In addition to the data included in the balance of payments statistics, structural information on trade in business-related services is also published (services trade by enterprise characteristics, STEC). In addition, international trade in services is also categorised according to the method of supply (modes of supply, MoS).

Data

Foreign Direct investment

Foreign direct investment refers to cross-border corporate investment resulting in at least 10% of the voting rights in a company. Above this threshold, investors are assumed to have a longer-term stake in companies – a key criterion for direct investment.

Outward direct investment refers to domestic investors’ holdings in a foreign company, while inward direct investment refers to foreign investors’ holdings in Austrian companies. Foreign direct investment statistics are presented in terms of stock, transactions and income, broken down by country, sector and financing instrument.

It is important to distinguish these foreign direct investment statistics from the functional category “direct investment” in the balance of payments and the international investment position. In the latter case, a distinction is made between foreign direct investment in assets and liabilities, rather than according to the direction of the investment, as is the case with outward and inward direct investment. 

For the analysis of foreign direct investment, the use of foreign direct investment statistics is recommended.

Data

Portfolio investment

Cross-border securities transactions are classified as portfolio investments if they do not represent holdings of 10% or more of the voting capital. Otherwise, they are classified as foreign direct investment. Portfolio investors primarily invest for profit (yield), whereas foreign direct investors primarily invest with a view to obtaining voting power. Cross-border securities trade is reported in the balance of payments. The stocks of foreign securities held by residents and the stocks of domestic securities held by non-residents is reflected in the international investment position. Portfolio investment is recorded at market value.

Domestic securities are those issued by companies that have a domestic registered office. Foreign securities are defined as those issued by entities based abroad. This classification is therefore not based on the country in which the security is marketed (country of issue) and is made regardless of the currency in which the security is denominated.

Data

Other investment

Other investment refers to any capital movements which may neither be assigned to portfolio or foreign direct investment, financial derivatives nor to reserve assets. These include, in particular, the following financing instruments: Cash and deposits, loans (less than 10% ownership), technical provisions, trade receivables, other equity interests (less than 10% ownership), special drawing rights. 

Other investments are presented as transactions in the balance of payments, while outstanding claims and liabilities (stocks) are shown in the international investment position (IIP). They are presented in the form of book values.
Cross-border income on other investment is shown with the same breakdown as the breakdown for stocks. The corresponding category in the current account balance is the financial account.

Data

OeNB Reports on external trade

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