COVID-19 Crisis Caused Cash Flow Margin in Domestic Manufacturing to Drop Again in 2020

At 9.9 percent, the cash-flow-to-sales ratio in Austrian manufacturing in 2019 was still well above the long-term average of 9.6 percent. According to WIFO's econometric estimation models, the cash-flow ratio fell to 8.2 percent in 2020. Preliminary data support the picture of a decline and show a rate of 8.8 percent. The cash flow margin in 2020 is therefore likely to have been slightly lower than in the financial market and economic crisis in 2008-09. After the end recession caused by the COVID 19 pandemic and the health policy measures taken against it, earnings power is expected to rise in 2021.