Austria

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has resulted in a significant speeding up in the move away from cash, as consumers and retailers tried to avoid handling it, particularly in the early days of the pandemic. This has therefore been providing strong impetus…

Unlike card payment transactions in general, store card transactions have not experienced any positive impulses from the pandemic in Austria. Furthermore, store cards suffered from lost sales when non-essential retailers were forced to close for…

Pre-paid cards saw a strong decline in 2020, due to social isolation measures and other restrictions related to out of home and tourism activities. Although overall pre-paid cards is set to recover significantly in 2021, current value and volume…

Although the COVID-19 pandemic and comprehensive lockdown measures resulted in plummeting consumer confidence initially, the government responded by launching a number of support programmes to minimise the financial impact on both businesses and…

Amongst payment instruments, debit cards saw the strongest increase during the pandemic in 2020, and the positive impact is set to continue in 2021. This development has been supported by growing merchant acceptance, whilst at the peak of the…

Credit cards is expected to return to growth in 2021, after seeing a strong decline in 2020. However, it is set to remain well under the 2019 pre-pandemic level in terms of both current value and volume transactions. Favouring using overdrafts,…

Consumer lending in Austria saw a notable slowdown in gross lending in 2020, as the pandemic significantly reduced the appetite amongst consumers to take on debt. However, a recovery in the growth rate is expected for gross lending in 2021, with…

The sudden economic downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt decline in demand for consumer credit in Austria in 2020, with a fall in the value of gross lending as incomes fell, stores were closed, and consumers postponed…

Although charge cards is expected to rebound significantly in 2021 from the strong decline seen in 2020, current value and volume transactions are set to remain well under the 2019 pre-pandemic level. In the face of the dominance of debit cards, the…

The briefing examines how the machinery industry is performing globally and in the largest countries in terms of machinery output. The report also provides data for production, market size, imports, exports, industry costs, industry profitability and…

Along with the gradual removal of international travel restrictions and quarantine conditions, alongside good progress of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Austria, hotels, leisure facilities, restaurants and bars re-opened for the general public…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hotels in Austria were not allowed to welcome leisure guests until 19 May 2021, with only business guests permitted during the time of restrictions. During this time, restaurants, bars and leisure facilities were also…

After months of very limited travelling activities, consumer interest bounced back in May 2021 when hotels and leisure facilities in Austria re-opened for the general audience, alongside the vaccination programme in the country making good progress,…

Hotels in Austria were allowed to welcome only business travellers during the lockdown period between 3 November 2020 and 18 May 2021, however, the majority chose to remain closed due to the limited profit opportunities. A large number of lodgings…

Car rental (destination) services suffered notably during the time of the pandemic, particularly so due to the decline in inbound travellers and the loss of business travel and associated car rental services. The category also saw a slow start as…

Passenger numbers remained extremely low in the first half 2021, when Austria was still significantly impacted by the pandemic and related limitations of public life and travelling. The major airport Vienna saw a decline of 90.5% in January 2021…

The main limiting factor for sales of wound care in 2020 was the fact that consumers opted to shop for essentials only and spend as little time in drugstores and pharmacies as possible. In addition, being less active limited the need for wound care…

Austrian consumers gained about 2kg in weight on average during the first six months of 2020, according to a study conducted by the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Public Health (MedUni Wien). Further lockdowns and home seclusion have very likely…

Vitamins continue to be in high demand in 2021 as a result of consumers attempting to be more proactive and self-reliant with regard to their health. The pandemic has been a catalyst for trends revolving around self-care and owning the responsibility…

After having been cooped up at home, fairly inactive, many consumers used the end of lockdown to increase physical activity levels, spending more time outdoors or at least working out at home (either to lose the weight gained during home seclusion or…