“The Austrian state spent more money in 2023 than ever before,” commented Statistics Austria General Director Tobias Thomas in a broadcast. Public spending has grown to a record 248.8 billion euros – for example through the adjustment of salaries and pensions as well as measures against the energy crisis.
While government spending increased by five percent or 11.9 billion euros, government revenue rose by 6.2 percent or 13.9 billion euros to 236.1 billion euros in 2023. According to preliminary results from Statistics Austria, the public deficit is 2.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and therefore 12.7 billion euros (2022: 14.6 billion euros, 3.3 percent of GDP). This means that Austria is below the Maastricht limit of three percent for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, Thomas noted.
Personnel expenses accounted for 8.7 percent more in 2023, and monetary social benefits accounted for 6.8 percent more. There was high expenditure on measures to mitigate the increased energy costs: 3.1 billion euros went to measures such as the energy cost subsidy II or the electricity cost brake. Interest expenses for national debt also increased by 1.4 billion euros compared to 2022.
86.7 percent from taxes and social contributions
In 2023, 86.7 percent of revenue came from taxes and social contributions – a total of 204.8 billion euros and thus 5.4 percent or 10.6 billion euros more than in 2022. However, according to Statistics Austria, tax revenue grew more moderately than in compared to previous years, namely by 4.5 percent. This is based on tax law measures such as the abolition of cold progression and recessionary economic development. For example, there was an increase of 2.0 billion euros (3.1 percent) in income and wealth taxes in 2023, and in 2022 this was 8.0 billion euros (14 percent).
Of the 371.1 billion euros in public debt at the end of 2023, 326.8 billion euros were bonds, 42.4 billion euros were loans and 1.9 billion euros were deposits. The federal sector accounted for the largest share of the increase of EUR 20.4 billion at EUR 16.6 billion. Meanwhile, the debt ratio – the ratio of national debt to nominal economic output – fell: from 78.4 to 77.8 percent. Nevertheless, the European requirements are clearly not met here.
