Lower Austrian industry warns confidence in location is falling

Industry in Lower Austria is losing confidence in Austria as a business location, ORF reported on Monday, citing a recent study. The province’s metalworking and engineering industry is calling for financial relief on taxes and levies.

The Industrial Science Institute surveyed the industry’s confidence index, which measures the balance between positive and negative assessments by industrial companies. The index fell from minus 12.1 in February 2026 to minus 14.6 in June.

The average across the 27 EU member states was also negative, at minus 7.5, but had improved from minus 8.1 in February.

“In fact, the negative assessments here are almost twice as high as the EU average. This is another alarm signal,” said Veit Schmid-Schmidsfelden, chairman of the Metalworking and Engineering Industry of Lower Austria.

The study also found a lack of confidence among foreign investors in Austria’s production location. Foreign direct investment in Austria accounts for 44 percent of gross domestic product, compared with an EU average of 81 percent. The Netherlands, Ireland and Switzerland, which have similarly small economies, perform significantly better, with an average of more than 211 percent.

Schmid-Schmidsfelden called for reliable political conditions and relief on taxes and levies, particularly lower labour-related costs. “There must be no wavering on reducing non-wage labour costs,” he said.

“Companies need predictability and reliability,” he said. If that reliability is undermined, investments quickly decline and companies may move all or part of their operations elsewhere.

The metalworking and engineering industry in Lower Austria comprises 289 active companies with around 24,200 employees. A total of 975 apprentices are being trained at 93 companies, according to Monday’s statement.