Forecasts difficult

Survey shows: record low for Tyrolean industry

Analyses show that the industrial and construction sectors have been struggling for two years.(Bild: stock.adobe.com)

Expectations for the coming months are also falling in the third quarter of 2024 Lack of orders and rising costs are causing uncertainty among local companies. Outlook for the future promises little improvement.

Fewer orders at home and abroad, rising costs and other uncertainties were factors that caused the business climate index of the Federation of Austrian Industries Tyrol (IV) to fall again in the third quarter of 2024. The negative mood thus continues. A ten-year low has been reached so far.

Massively increased costs, especially in the area of unit labor costs, weakening demand for industrial products in the most important sales markets and growing geopolitical uncertainties are shaping the picture of Tyrolean industry.

Industriellenvereinigung Tirol

The business climate index is the mean value of the assessment of the current and expected business situation in the next six months. Current surveys show that the economic environment has deteriorated. "Massively increased costs, especially in the area of unit labor costs, weakening demand for industrial products on the most important sales markets and growing geopolitical uncertainties are shaping the picture of Tyrolean industry," explains IV Tirol. Only 8 percent of the companies surveyed rated the current business situation as "good". In the second quarter, the figure was 19 percent. As many as 77 percent rated the situation as "average" and 15 percent as "poor".

We need a government capable of taking action to get Austria back on its feet as an industrial location.

Max Kloger, IV-Tirol-Präsident 

Orders are now failing to materialize, prospects are gloomy
The decline in orders in particular is causing uncertainty. The production outlook and price trends are unlikely to improve the mood of entrepreneurs. Two percent expect capacity utilization to be good, while 18 percent fear the opposite. More than half of the companies surveyed expect prices to fall and costs to rise.

In view of the situation, IV Tirol President Max Kloger is appealing to politicians: "We need a government capable of taking action to get Austria back on its feet as an industrial location." For example, there needs to be noticeable relief in energy prices and a reduction in non-wage labor costs.