Hesitant recovery from the COVID 19 crisis
As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, the world economy suffered a historically unprecedented slump in the first half of 2020. With the easing of the containment measures in many countries since May, the global economy started to recover. After strong growth in the third quarter, however, the recovery should be quickly flattening out again. Following the extremely severe economic slump in the first half of the year, the IHS expects economic output in Austria to decline by 6.7 % in 2020; in the coming year, real GDP is expected to grow by 4.7 %. As a result, the unemployment rate should rise sharply to 9.9 % this year; next year it could fall to 9.4 %. Inflation is expected to reach 1.4 % and 1.6 % in 2020 and in 2021, respectively. The necessary economic policy measures will lead to a sharp rise in the budget deficit.