Austria's Top Imports & Exports 2008
Leading Austrian Exports Include Cars, Soft Drinks and Coffee
Oct 5, 2009
Achieving a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) valued at US$415.3 billion, Austria was the world’s 25th richest country in 2008.
With a population of 8.2 million Austrians who enjoyed an average GDP of $39,200 per person last year, Austria was also the 22nd wealthiest nation in terms of GDP per capita.
As the world’s 29th biggest exporter, Austria shipped $163.6 billion worth of exports in 2008. Austria’s wide-ranging exports span machinery, motor vehicles and parts, paper and paperboard, metal goods, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles and foodstuffs. Based on 2008 statistics, Austria’s largest export clients were Germany (29.4%), Italy (8.6%), the United States (4.3%) and Switzerland (4.2%).
According to the CIA World Factbook, Austria imported $168.9 billion worth of foreign goods last year. Major commodities imported into Austria include machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals, oil products and foodstuffs. Leading suppliers to Austria were Germany (44.4%), Italy (7.1%), Switzerland (5.2%) and Netherlands (4.1%).
In total, Austria’s international trade amounted to $332.5 billion or 80% in relation to its overall GDP. This compares with roughly 25% for the U.S. and 60% for Canada.
Austrian Trade with the U.S.
Last year, Austrian exports to America fell 20.7% to $8.5 billion. Over that same period, Austria bought $2.6 billion worth of U.S. imports – a drop of 14.8%.
Therefore, Austria’s trade surplus with the U.S. came to $5.9 billion in 2008.
The lists below present the top 10 exports and imports that American and Austrian enterprises exchanged in 2008. The fastest-growing trade product categories are also shown.
Austria’s Top Exports to America
Although automobiles topped the list of Austrian exports to the U.S. in 2008, that product category was down by over 60% from 2007. The following top 10 product categories represent 52.2% of Austria’s shipments to American last year. Six product categories had positive percentage gains ranging from 8.7% to 924.7% for collectible coins. The other 4 product categories represent some of the larger dollar-volume exports, and declined from 5.9% to 62.3%.
- Passenger cars … US$1.4 billion, down 62.3% from 2007 (16.4% of US imports from Austria)
- Medicinal, dental and pharmaceutical preparations … $889.2 million, down 5.9% (10.5%)
- Oilfield and drilling equipment … $345 million, up 61.1% (4.1%)
- Soft beverages and processed coffee … $331.3 million, down 44.9% (3.9%)
- Materials handling equipment … $290.8 million, up 28% (3.4%)
- Other industrial machinery … $279.5 million, up 8.7% (3.3%)
- Numismatic collectible coins … $259.3 million, up 924.7% (3.1%)
- Engines and engine parts … $225.4 million, down 45.2% (2.7%)
- Generators and accessories … $220.3 million, up 22.4% (2.6%)
- Excavating, paving and construction machinery … $183.8 million, up 9.4% (2.2%).
Fastest-Growing Austrian Exports to the U.S.
Austrian exports of gold experienced a formidable 18,751% increase last year, followed by an impressive gain in diamond exports to the U.S. While 3 of the other export categories achieved triple-digit gains and the remaining 5 products were up in the double-digits, many of the fast-growing exports were for relatively small amounts.
- Non-monetary gold … US$18.9 million, up 18,751% from 2007
- Gem diamonds … $10.1 million, up 5,652%
- Numismatic collectible coins … $259.3 million, up 924.7%
- Farming materials including farm animals … $1.2 million, up 237.8%
- Unmanufactured steelmaking materials … $18.5 million, up 159.7%
- Civilian aircraft … $1.1 million, up 92.8%
- Marine engines and parts … $5 million, up 92.7%
- Nuts … $1.1 million, up 75.5%
- Oilfield and drilling equipment … $345 million, up 61.1%
- Household and kitchen appliances … $29.7 million, up 58.4%.
Austria’s Top Imports from America
Austria’s top 10 imports account for 57.8% of total products that Austria imports from the U.S.
- Pharmaceutical preparations … US$383.4 million, down 4.3% from 2007 (14.5% of US exports to Austria)
- Civilian aircraft … $348.3 million, down 14.1% (13.1%)
- Other vehicle parts and accessories … $303.6 million, down 47.5% (11.5%)
- Medicinal equipment … $104.7 million, up 9.7% (4%)
- Other industrial supplies … $78.1 million, up 66.9% (2.9%)
- Unmanufactured agricultural farming … $72.4 million, up 66.7% (2.7%)
- Electric apparatus … $65.7 million, down 13.4% (2.5%)
- Other industrial machines … $64.1 million, down 2.2% (2.4%)
- Inorganic chemicals … $57.6 million, up 32.9% (2.2%)
- Passenger cars … $54 million, down 30.8% (2%).
Fastest-Growing Austrian Imports from the U.S.
Among the fastest-growing imports from America to Austria, the following products represent smaller-ticket items well down the list of high-volume American shipments to Austrian importers.
- Non-farm tractors and parts … US$24.3 million, up 1,221%
- Rice … $1.2 million, up 328.5%
- Armored vehicles and military trucks … $1.7 million, up 180.4%
- Metallurgical grade coal … $35.1 million, up 178.6%
- Gem diamonds … $5.4 million, up 177%
- Toiletries and cosmetics … $6.3 million, up 81.1%
- Collectibles (antiques, artwork, stamps) … $50.5 million, up 69.3%
- Other industrial supplies … $78.1 million, up 66.9%
- Unmanufactured agricultural farming … $72.4 million, up 66.7%
- Other household goods … $26.8 million, up 63%.
Comparative Trade Advantages
During 2008, Austria exported $1.4 billion worth of new and used Austrian passenger cars to the U.S. while importing $54 million worth of American passenger cars.
These Austrian-American trade statistics show that Austria has comparative advantages over the U.S. in passenger-car trade between the 2 nations.
On the other hand, America exported $348.3 million worth of civilian aircraft to Austria in 2008 contrasted with U.S. imports of complete Austrian civilian aircraft worth just $1.1 million.
That the U.S. exported more than 300 times the value of Austrian semiconductors clearly shows that America has a comparative advantage in exporting civilian aircraft to Austria.
Sources
This analysis is based on latest statistics from the US Census Bureau- Foreign Trade Statistics and CIA World Factbook as of the date of article publication.
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