WIIW The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies - Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche

Growth in the first half of the year was better than expected, due to a sustained rise in industrial production and retail trade. But high inflation and the continued political risks will slow it down in the second half of the year, and also in 2023. A general election was held on 2 October and revealed the people’s desire for something different: two of the three elected Presidency members are from non-nationalist parties. However, no great changes are expected: according to preliminary results, the nationalist parties won the majority of the vote at both state and entity level. This will continue to slow the country’s progress generally and towards European integration.