industry and crafts, 8.1% agriculture and forestry; an estimated 200,000 Austrians are employed in other European countries; foreign laborers in Austria number 177,840, about 6% of labor force (1988)
Organized labor: 1,672,820 members of Austrian Trade Union Federation (1984)
- Government
Long-form name: Republic of Austria
Type: federal republic
Capital: Vienna
Administrative divisions: 9 states (bundeslander, singular—bundesland);
Burgenland, Karnten, Niederosterreich, Oberosterreich, Salzburg,
Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg, Wien
Independence: 12 November 1918 (from Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Constitution: 1920, revised 1929 (reinstated 1945)
Legal system: civil law system with Roman law origin; judicial review of legislative acts by a Constitutional Court; separate administrative and civil/penal supreme courts; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday: National Day, 26 October (1955)
Executive branch: president, chancellor, vice chancellor, Council of
Ministers (cabinet)
Legislative branch: bicameral Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) consists of an upper council or Federal Council (Bundesrat) and a lower council or National Council (Nationalrat)
Judicial branch: Supreme Judicial Court (Oberster Gerichtshof) for civil and criminal cases, Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgerichtshof) for bureaucratic cases, Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof) for constitutional cases
Leaders:
Chief of State—President Kurt WALDHEIM (since 8 July 1986);
Head of Government—Chancellor Franz VRANITZKY (since 16 June 1986);
Vice Chancellor Josef RIEGLER (since 19 May 1989)
Political parties and leaders: Socialist Party of Austria (SPO),
Franz Vranitzky, chairman; Austrian People's Party (OVP), Josef
Riegler, chairman; Freedom Party of Austria (FPO), Jorg Haider,
chairman; Communist Party (KPO), Franz Muhri, chairman; Green
Alternative List (GAL), Andreas Wabl, chairman
Suffrage: universal at age 19; compulsory for presidential elections
Elections: President—last held 8 June 1986 (next to be held May 1992); results of Second Ballot—Dr. Kurt Waldheim 53.89%, Dr. Kurt Steyrer 46.11%;
Federal Council—last held 23 November 1986 (next to be held November 1990); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(63 total) OVP 32, SPO 30, FPO 1;
National Council—last held 23 November 1986 (next to be held November 1990); results—SP0 43.1%, OVP 41.3%, FPO 9.7%, GAL 4.8%, KPO 0.7%, other 0.32%; seats—(183 total) SP0 80, OVP 77, FP0 18, GAL 8
Communists: membership 15,000 est.; activists 7,000–8,000
Other political or pressure groups: Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Austrian Trade Union Federation (primarily Socialist); three composite leagues of the Austrian People's Party (OVP) representing business, labor, and farmers; OVP-oriented League of Austrian Industrialists; Roman Catholic Church, including its chief lay organization, Catholic Action
Member of: ADB, Council of Europe, CCC, DAC, ECE, EFTA, ESA,
FAO, GATT, IAEA, IDB—Inter-American Development Bank, IBRD, ICAC,
ICAO, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, ITU,
IWC—International Wheat Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WTO, WSG; Austria is neutral and is not a member of NATO or the EC
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Friedrich HOESS; Embassy at 2343 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20008; telephone (202) 483–4474; there are Austrian Consulates General in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York; US—Ambassador Henry A. GRUNWALD; Embassy at Boltzmanngasse 16, A-1091, Vienna (mailing address is APO New York 09108); telephone p43o (222) 31–55-11; there is a US Consulate General in Salzburg
Flag: three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red
- Economy Overview: Austria boasts a prosperous and stable capitalist economy with a sizable proportion of nationalized industry and extensive welfare benefits. Thanks to an excellent raw material endowment, a technically skilled labor force, and strong links with West German industrial firms, Austria has successfully occupied specialized niches in European industry and services (tourism, banking) and produces almost enough food to feed itself with only 8% of the labor force in agriculture. Living standards are roughly comparable with the large industrial countries of Western Europe. Problems for the l990s include an aging population and the struggle to keep welfare benefits within budget capabilities.
GDP: $103.2 billion, per capita $13,600; real growth rate 4.2% (1989 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.7% (1989)
Unemployment: 4.8% (1989)
Budget: revenues $34.2 billion; expenditures $39.5 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (1988)
Exports: $31.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989); commodities—machinery and equipment, iron and steel, lumber, textiles, paper products, chemicals; partners—FRG 35%, Italy 10%, Eastern Europe 9%, Switzerland 7%, US 4%, OPEC 3%
Imports: $37.9 billion (c.i.f., 1989); commodities—petroleum, foodstuffs, machinery and equipment, vehicles, chemicals, textiles and clothing, pharmaceuticals; partners—FRG 44%, Italy 9%, Eastern Europe 6%, Switzerland 5%, US 4%, USSR 2%
External debt: $12.4 billion (December 1987)
Industrial production: growth rate 5.8% (1989 est.)
Electricity: 17,562,000 kW capacity; 49,290 million kWh produced, 6,500 kWh per capita (1989)
Industries: foods, iron and steel, machines, textiles, chemicals, electrical, paper and pulp, tourism, mining
Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GDP (including forestry); principal crops and animals—grains, fruit, potatoes, sugar beets, sawn wood, cattle, pigs poultry; 80–90% self-sufficient in food
Aid: donor—ODA and OOF commitments (1970–87), $1.7 billion
Currency: Austrian schilling (plural—schillings); 1 Austrian schilling (S) = 100 groschen
Exchange rates: Austrian schillings (S) per US$1—11.907 (January 1990), 13.231 (1989), 12.348 (1988), 12.643 (1987), 15.267 (1986), 20.690 (1985)
Fiscal year: calendar year
- Communications Railroads: 6,028 km total; 5,388 km government owned and 640 km privately
