WIFO is pleased with a particularly strong result in the eighth ranking of the most influential economists by the newspaper "Die Presse". The outgoing director of WIFO, Christoph Badelt, reclaimed second place. His successor Gabriel Felbermayr, who takes office on 1 October 2021, landed in third place and Margit Schratzenstaller in fourth. Oliver Fritz and Harald Oberhofer made it into the top 20.

Despite a clear economic upswing, the COVID-19 pandemic brought challenges for Austrian companies in the past six months: about 73 percent of the companies surveyed reported impairment of business activities in the past six months.

The momentum of weekly economic activity according to WWWI weakened somewhat in calendar weeks 34 and 35 (23 August to 5 September 2021). According to preliminary calculations, GDP was 1.4 percent (calendar week 34) and 1.1 percent (calendar week 35) above the pre-crisis level, an average week in 2019 as a fixed reference period. Compared with the same calendar week in the previous year, GDP was 4.7 percent and 3.5 percent higher, respectively.

"As a result of the unexpectedly early and strong economic recovery, there is a strong reduction in inventories and considerable material bottlenecks. This is driving up prices and slowing the momentum of the upswing," says Stefan Schiman, author of the current WIFO economic report.

With the opening in the tourism and hospitality industry after the lockdown on 19 May 2021, the Austrian tourism industry recorded significant year-on-year demand growth in the first half of the summer season (arrivals +24.1 percent, overnight stays +19.5 percent, revenues nominally +24.3 percent).