Key Indicators of Climate Change and the Energy Sector in 2026

In 2024, the Austrian economy recorded a real GDP contraction of 0.8 percent, accompanied by a simultaneous decline in energy consumption (–0.7 percent) and greenhouse gas emissions (–3 percent). This emissions reduction is attributable to an interplay of structural and cyclical factors: persistently high energy prices, the deteriorating economic environment, mild weather conditions (heating degree days –4.1 percent), and the continued expansion of renewable energy technologies. According to preliminary data, this trend partially reverses in 2025: despite growing energy consumption (+1.9 percent), a recovering real GDP (+0.85 percent), a marked slump in hydropower production (–27.6 percent), and cooler weather conditions (heating degree days +11.7 percent), greenhouse gas emissions rise only moderately by 0.7 percent. The pronounced decline in hydropower production points to a systemically relevant vulnerability: water scarcity driven by extreme weather events destabilises not only the renewable energy mix and agricultural productivity but also threatens the resilience of entire value chains.