Analyses upon request

At the request of Member of Parliament Karin Doppelbauer (NEOS), the Budget Office analysed trends in health expenditure since 2015 and key financial interlinkages within the Austrian healthcare system. In 2024, health expenditure (excl. long-term care) in Austria totalled 52.1 billion euros, corresponding to a 60.0 % increase since 2015. Therefore, health expenditure grew significantly faster than nominal GDP (+44.4 %). This increase was primarily driven by publicly financed current health expenditure. In particular, contributions of the federal government to the healthcare system have increased since 2019 due to funding for additional programmes. The financing of the Austrian healthcare system is characterised by complex interlinkages between the federal government, the federal provinces, municipalities, and social insurance, particularly in the area of hospital financing. This creates conflicting financial incentives for stakeholders in the healthcare system, primarily affecting the shifting of services between inpatient and outpatient settings.

The analysis is available only in German.

At the request of Member of Parliament Arnold Schiefer (FPÖ), the Budget Office examined trends in government expenditure and the expenditure-side composition of gross domestic product (GDP) for the period from 2019 to 2025. Austria’s real GDP in 2025 was 2.7 % higher than in 2019. Public consumption (+14.3 %) and public investment (+27.0 %) grew more strongly during this period. Private consumption followed a similar trend to GDP, while private investment declined (‑8.6 %). Since 2019, government expenditure as a share of GDP has risen by 6.1 percentage points to 55.2 % in 2025. Particularly strong increases were seen in cash social benefits (+2.1 percentage points), compensation of employees (+0.9 percentage points), and intermediate consumption (+0.7 percentage points), especially in areas affected by demographic change. These areas are characterised by strong financial interlinkages among government subsectors. Increased expenditure by the federal provinces, municipalities, and social security funds was partially covered by higher transfers from the federal government.

The analysis is available only in German.

At the request of Member of Parliament Jakob Schwarz (Grüne), the Budget Office analysed the costs of road construction and maintenance in Austria. These costs are borne by the municipalities, the federal provinces, and ASFINAG, which manages the motorway and expressway network on behalf of the federal government. In 2024, ASFINAG’s expenses totalled 2.3 billion euros, including 1.5 billion euros in investments in maintenance (58 %) and new construction and expansion (32 %). Total payments by the federal provinces and municipalities under the road construction budget heading amounted to approximately 3.4 billion euros in 2024. In the federal provinces excluding Vienna, 731 million euros were allocated to new construction, expansion, and maintenance. For municipalities and Vienna, information on payments for road investment and maintenance is available from the 2024 financial statements; these amounted to 906 million euros for municipalities excluding Vienna and 318 million euros for Vienna.

The analysis is available only in German.

At the request of Member of Parliament Arnold Schiefer (FPÖ), the Budget Office examined Austria's financial flows with the European Union (EU). The analysis pays particular attention to financial flows related to the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. the NextGenerationEU (NGEU) recovery instrument) as well as the liabilities and guarantees assumed by Austria in this context. Transfers from Austria’s federal budget to the EU consist predominantly of own resources. As a rule, these payments exceed EU inflows recorded in the federal budget, because the latter do not cover all amounts transferred by the EU to Austria and because Austria is a net contributor. Grants from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) temporarily increase inflows. Repayment of the debt raised by the EU for this instrument will start in 2028 via the EU budget and must be completed by 2058.

The analysis is available only in German.