COVID-19 Crisis Dampens Innovation Activity of Austrian Companies. Results of the WIFO-Konjunkturtest of December 2020

The December 2020 WIFO-Konjunkturtest (business cycle survey) shows that the share of firms that introduced new products has declined by 4.8 percentage points in 2020 compared to 2019. The growth in spending on new product launches also declined sharply in 2020. However, companies tried to maintain spending at pre-crisis levels. Austrian companies remain cautious with regard to expenditures for product innovations planned for 2021.