- Around six in 10 Austrian firms have invested in measures to improve energy efficiency, according to annual survey commissioned by EIB.
- Austrian businesses report higher adoption rates of digital technologies.
Almost all Austrian firms – 94% – have acted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through steps such as curbing waste, recycling and saving energy, according to a European Investment Bank (EIB) Group survey. Austrian companies also have done more than the European Union average in embracing digital technologies, new country results from the EIB Group Investment Survey (EIBIS) show.
EIBIS is an annual report based on polling of approximately 13,000 firms in all EU Member States plus a sample from the United States. Its main results were released in October 2024, showing that EU businesses lead the way in investments in climate mitigation and adaptation.
The detailed reports for individual EU countries were published today. Key takeaways for Austria include:
- Austrian firms are more likely than EU firms to engage in international trade (77% versus 66%).
- In 2024, concerns about supply-chain disruptions eased in Austria and in the EU as a whole.
- More than four in five Austrian businesses – 83% – use digital technologies compared with an EU average of 74%. However, the share of investment allocated to innovation has fallen and is now below the EU average.
- The investment outlook – the share of firms expecting to increase rather than decrease their investments – was stable compared with last year’s survey. Austrian firms continue to focus their investments on replacing production capacity rather than expanding it.
“Austrian firms are more optimistic about the economic climate than in the previous year EIB Vice president Thomas Östros said. “Looking ahead to the next three years, Austrian firms expect to prioritise replacement investment over expansion.”
The full country report about Austria is available here.
"European companies are making significant progress in tackling climate change and embracing digital transformation across the board," remarked EIB Chief Economist Debora Revoltella. "However, enhancing EU investment necessitates a more cohesive and integrated single market."
Survey results feed into the annual Investment Report, the flagship publication of the EIB Group’s Economics Department, gauging the investment outlook for Europe’s economy. The next Investment Report will be released on 5 March 2025 during the annual EIB Group Forum in Luxembourg.
The annual Forum brings together key stakeholders from the government, business and finance domains to exchange views on investment priorities that support Europe's policies, including industrial decarbonisation, artificial intelligence, the Capital Markets Union, security, housing and EU enlargement. The theme of this year’s event is Investing in a more sustainable and secure Europe.
Background information
The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. Built around eight core priorities, we finance investments that contribute to EU policy objectives by bolstering climate action and the environment, digitalisation and technological innovation, security and defence, cohesion, agriculture and bioeconomy, social infrastructure, the capital markets union, and a stronger Europe in a more peaceful and prosperous world.
The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed nearly €89 billion in new financing for over 900 high-impact projects in 2024, boosting Europe’s competitiveness and security.
In 2024, the EIB Group reached a funding volume of €1.7 billion in Austria, focusing on countercyclical investment promotion in energy-intensive industries such as steel production.