The Regional Economic Effects of International Organisations in Austria

Austria, and in particular the federal capital Vienna, is home to numerous international organisations and diplomatic missions. More than 10,000 international employees work in these organisations. Even if these employees and not the entire value added in connection with international organisations are statistically attributed to the Austrian economy, the operation of these organisations and the consumption of their employees have a noticeable impact on the Austrian economy. With the help of the WIFO regional model ASCANIO, direct, indirect and induced effects of around 20,000 employees and 1.7 billion € in value added for Austria in connection with the international organisations and diplomatic missions were estimated for 2023. This in turn generated over 750 million € in taxes and duties. Even if the total costs incurred by the organisations studied in Austria (security costs, subsidies, rent exemptions, etc.) cannot be estimated precisely, a purely financial cost-benefit calculation is likely to be clearly positive – even if intangible effects (such as image, diplomatic weight, etc.) were not taken into account in this study.