OECD Development Co-operation Peer Reviews: Austria 2015

By OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

The OECD's Development Assistance Committee (DAC) conducts periodic reviews of the individual development co-operation efforts of DAC members. The policies and programmes of each member are critically examined approximately once every five years. DAC peer reviews assess the performance of a given member, not just that of its development co-operation agency, and examine both policy and implementation. They take an integrated, system-wide perspective on the development co-operation and humanitarian assistance activities of the member under review. Austria is a prosperous and democratic country with a population of 8.5 million. It is a federal, parliamentary, democratic republic with nine states. The grand coalition government comprising the centre-left Social Democratic Party and the centre-right Austrian People's Party was renewed in December 2013 following the September general election to the National Council (Naionalrat). The two parties have a combined 99 seats in the 183-member National Council, providing a sense of political continuity and stability and keeping Austria firmly on a pro-European Union (EU) course. The next general election is scheduled to take place in 2018. Austria, with its well-developed market economy, skilled labour force, and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany's. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small but highly developed agricultural sector. Following several years of solid demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the international financial crisis of 2008 and the subsequent global economic downturn led to a sharp but brief recession. Austrian GDP saw positive growth of about 2.9% in 2011, but growth fell to 0.7% in 2012 and 0.4% in 2013. According to the OECD Economic Outlook, Austria's GDP growth is set for a moderate but steady recovery - the OECD forecasts GDP growth to recover to 1.5% in 2014 and 2.1% in 2015.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 9264227946
• ISBN13: 9789264227941
• Release Date: February 2015
• Publisher: OECD
• Length: 112 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 8.3" x 11.0"