Austria's economy grew by 0.4 percent on quarter in the three months to September 2018, below a preliminary estimate of 0.5 percent and following a 0.6 percent expansion in the previous period. This was the weakest growth rate since the second quarter of 2015 as private consumption increased at a softer pace (0.3 percent vs 0.4 percent in Q2), alongside fixed investment (0.7 percent vs 1.1 percent) and government spending (0.4 percent vs 0.5 percent). Meanwhile, net trade contributed positively to GDP growth as exports (0.7 percent, the same as in Q2) rose faster than imports (0.4 percent vs 0.6 percent). Year-on-year, the economy grew by 2.2 percent, below a preliminary 2.4 percent and the previous quarter's 2.7 percent. GDP Growth Rate in Austria averaged 0.47 percent from 1996 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 1.10 percent in the fourth quarter of 1997 and a record low of -1.40 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.
GDP Growth Rate in Austria is expected to be 0.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Growth Rate in Austria to stand at 0.50 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Austria GDP Growth Rate is projected to trend around 0.30 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.