Weekly WIFO Economic Index

WWWI for GDP and its subcomponents

Based on the weekly indicator for GDP (WWWI), Austrian economic output was 1¼ percent higher in June (calendar weeks 23 to 26, 1 to 28 June 2026) and ¾ percent higher in the first three weeks of July (calendar weeks 27 to 29, 29 June to 19 July 2026) than in the corresponding period of the previous year (May –0.1 percent, revised)¹.

The inflation-adjusted volume of cashless transactions as an indicator for the consumption expenditure of private households indicates an increase in the year-on-year comparison for June for both demand for goods (retail sales) and demand for services, with the latter likely having increased slightly more. Private consumption expanded by 1½ percent in June compared to the previous year. In the first three weeks of July, private consumption expenditure is estimated to have stagnated at the previous year's level (May –¼ percent).

The development of gross fixed capital formation is determined by the economic output (industrial production) and the sentiment in manufacturing according to the WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey). Investments are estimated to have increased by 2¼ percent in June and by 3¼ percent in the first half of July compared to the previous year (May –1¼ percent).

Based on the development of industrial production and tourism, as well as the major demand components and the resulting effects on foreign trade, net exports in the broad sense resulted in a negative growth contribution to GDP of ¾ percentage point in June (May –¼ percentage point).

Truck mileage on Austria's motorways and air freight volume at Vienna Airport increased again in June compared to the previous year. Rail freight transport and passenger numbers at Vienna Airport continued to decline. Passenger volume suffered a noticeable blow as a result of the Iran war (route cancellations and increased kerosene prices). In April, the WIFO-Konjunkturtest showed a significant deterioration in business sentiment in the transport sector, which had already been predominantly negative. Assessments have recovered slightly since then but remain subdued. For the transport sector (NACE 2008, section H), value added in June and the first half of July is estimated to have decreased by ½ percent and 2 percent respectively compared to the previous year (May –2¼ percent).

The industrial production index (unadjusted) rose by 0.7 percent in April compared to the previous year (revised, preliminary calculation +0.3 percent) and fell by 4.9 percent in May according to preliminary calculations – with two fewer working days than in the previous year. Dependent employment in the goods-producing sector (NACE 2008, sections A to E) continued to shrink (June –0.8 percent and May –0.7 percent compared to the previous year). The number of jobseekers in this sector increased again after a brief respite at the turn of the year 2025/26. According to the WIFO-Konjunkturtest, sentiment in manufacturing had tended to improve until the beginning of 2026, but deteriorated significantly with the start of the Iran war and remained subdued in the following months. WIFO estimates economic output in the goods-producing sector to have been 2¼ percent higher in June – with two more working days than in the previous year – and 1½ percent higher in early July than in the previous year (May –1½ percent).

After a slight increase in March, the construction production index was 2.3 percent lower (revised, preliminary calculation +1.7 percent) in April and 1.6 percent lower (preliminary calculation) in May than the previous year's values. The decline in employment in construction eased until April, but increased again in May and June compared to the previous year. However, the number of registered unemployed persons has been decreasing for several months. Sentiment among construction companies has returned to a positive balance in recent months. Due to working day effects, the decline in value added in construction (NACE 2008, section F) in June was –1½ percent compared to the previous year, which was less than in May (–3 percent). In the first three weeks of July, value added sank by 2 percent.

Based on cashless transactions in the restaurant and hotel sector and sentiment indicators from the WIFO-Konjunkturtest, value added in tourism (accommodation and food services, NACE 2008, section I) is estimated to have fallen by ¼ percent in June and risen by 1 percent in the first half of July compared to the previous year (May +5½ percent). In 2026, the extended weekends for Ascension Day (14 to 17 May) and Pentecost (23 to 25 May) fell entirely in May, whereas in the previous year they fell (partially) in June. In trade (NACE 2008, section G), growth in value added compared to the previous year is estimated to have been 2¼ percent and 1¾ percent in June (two more trading days) and early July respectively (May –4 percent).

The current employment situation in the remaining market-related services and sentiment indicators from the WIFO-Konjunkturtest indicate a continued overall positive development of this sector. For the remaining market-related services (NACE 2008, sections J to N), an increase in value added of 1¼ percent and 1¾ percent is estimated for June and the first half of July respectively compared to the previous year (May +1¼ percent). In other personal services (NACE 2008, sections R to T), value added is estimated to have grown by 1¾ percent in June and 2½ percent in the first three weeks of July on the basis of employment development and business expectations according to the WIFO-Konjunkturtest (May +1 percent).

¹ The inclusion of newly published and revised monthly data, which must be reconciled in the estimation of the WWWI, led to a revision of the WWWI for GDP. Notable supply-side WWWI revisions occurred particularly in the areas of trade (NACE 2008, section G), accommodation and food service activities (section I), goods production (sections A to E) and remaining market-related services (sections J to N).

The Weekly WIFO Economic Index (WWWI) is a measure of the real economic activity of the Austrian economy on a weekly and monthly frequency. It is based on weekly, monthly and quarterly time series to estimate weekly and monthly indicators for real GDP and 18 GDP sub-aggregates (use side 8, production side 10) of the Quarterly National Accounts.

With the release for June 2022, the econometric models for the historical decompositions and for nowcasting have been converted to seasonally unadjusted time series. In addition, year-on-year growth rates are now used to estimate the models.

The WWWI estimates are (currently) updated monthly and published on the WIFO website.