Austria, Economy

The Austrian economy is based on a balance of private and public enterprise. All the basic industries were nationalized in 1946; these included all oil production and refining; the largest commercial banks; and the principal companies in river and air transportation, railroad equipment, electric machinery and appliances, mining, iron, steel, and chemical manufacturing, and natural-gas and electric power production. However, government control was reduced through privatization efforts in the late 1980s and early 1990s, allowing for the sale of shares in many nationalized companies to private investors. Over the years, Austria maintained close ties with the countries of Eastern Europe. Since the collapse of Communism in those countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, more than 1,000 Western companies have chosen Austria as their base for new Eastern European operations.

In 1999 the estimated annual national budget included revenues of $78.2 billion and expenditures of $84.5 billion. Gross domestic product (GDP) was $189 billion in 2000.