19.01.2023 14:30 (act. 19.01.2023 14:30)
Dairy products are once again an export success (symbol image) ©APA/THEMENBILD
Domestic food exports increased slightly in 2022. According to estimates by AMA Marketing, the volume of exports increased by 1.8 percent compared to the previous year, while the volume of imports fell by 0.7 percent. Export and import values skyrocketed due to inflation. Agricultural foreign trade resulted in a deficit of 160 million euros, after the balance was practically balanced in 2021 and positive for the first time in 2020.
The value of exports will rise sharply by 15.6 percent to 16 billion euros due to the high level of prices, while that of imports is expected to increase by 16.4 percent to around 16.2 billion euros. As in previous years, the highlights of exports were dairy products, which accounted for more than 1.2 billion euros in the period from January to September 2022 and again increased significantly in value compared to the corresponding period of the previous year (+ 22.4%).
Processed fruits and vegetables also saw considerable demand between January and September with 640 million euros (+13.9 percent). In the case of sausages, the value of exports amounted to a good 520 million euros (+13.7 percent). The huge price increases over the past year are also evident in the grain export value, which rose sharply by 31.4 percent.
Germany remained the most important customer country. The value of exports increased by 15% to €4.4 billion in September 2022, which corresponds to just over a third of Austria’s total agricultural export volume. Above all, dairy products, beef and industrialized fruits and vegetables were in demand in the big neighbor. Italy follows in second place with 1.3 billion euros. The USA followed (560 million euros), closely followed by the Netherlands (458 million euros) and Switzerland (450 million euros).
Due to the war, bilateral trade with Ukraine dropped sharply, with exports falling by 36.3%. The value of exports fell 23 percent. For Russia, however, there was an increase in the value of goods: compared to the previous year, it increased by about a third.
WADA data refer to products in customs chapters 1 to 24. Chapters 1 to 15 refer to agriculture. The remaining chapters are processed products of the food industry.