Pestle Austria

PESTLE analysis of Austria A ustria Political: Austria is a democratic republic country and have a very stable political scenario from year 1955 onwards, currently Austria is ranked 6 th among 58 industrial countries by the World Competitive Yearbook 2010. Economic: Economic : Austria, with its well -developed market market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a s ound ound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed developed a gricultural gricultural sector. Following several years of solid foreign demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the international financial crisis and global economic downturn in 2008 led to a recession that persisted persisted until the third quarter quarter of 2009 . Austrian GDP contracted contracted 3.8% in 2009 but saw positive growth of about 2% in 2010. The international financial crisis caused difficulties for some of Austria's largest banks whose extensive operations in central, eastern, and south -eastern -eastern Europe faced la rge losses. The government provided provided bank support - including in some instances, nationalization - to prevent insolvency and possible regional contagion. In the medium -term all large Austrian banks will need additional capital. capital. Even after the global global economi c outlook improves, Austria will need to continue continue restructuring and emphasizing on knowledge -based sectors of the economy. Social: Culture, environmental quality, high living standards, security, classic dwellings and shopping - Austria has it all and more , when it comes to everyday quality of life. No wonder  that the World Competitiveness Competitiveness Yearbook Yearbook 2009 ranks ranks Austria number 1 in quality of life Legal: Labor laws are very strong in Austria and the labor organisations play vital role in business. One of Austria¶s foremost attractions as a business location location is its i ts business -friendly -friendly tax system. syst em. Profits are taxed with a standard tax rate of 25 percent - a strong showing even in comparison to the the new EU member states. A levy such as trade trade or net worth worth taxes (the n orm in other European European countries) countries) does not exist in Austria. Environmental: For a long time after after the war war (world war), reconstruction reconst ruction and supporting the industrial development were the only only priorities to Austrians. Only in the late seventies, environmental movements gained momentum and the general awareness of pollution and other issues increased. Later, a Green party formed and a number of environmental laws were released to protect p rotect the nature of the nation. The major environmental environmental issues concerned with Austria are 1) transit traffic mostly in Tyrol & Salzburg (important road link connecting north and south Eu rope) 2) industrial pollution. Other factors: Climate change and natural catastrophes increasingly influence business location decisions.   Austria Aust ria ranks second worldwide concerning the security of energy s upplies. Electricity Electrici ty is available more than 99 percent of the time. Austria is relatively free from natural catastrophes. Accordingly, it is not even listed in the risk evaluations of prominent international insurance companies.