Purchasing Power Series Austria 2010: Tail-light Burgenland catches up

With 94 index points, respectively around 16 800 euro purchasing power per capita Burgenland is the tail-light in the Austrian purchasing power ranking. Although compared to the year 2000 the purchasing power index in the Eastern province of Austria has improved considerably (+6 index points).

The differences between Burgenland and the rest of Austria have been minimised, too. In 1990 the gap between Vienna and Burgenland was at around 37 index points, in 2009 the difference was minimised to only 11 index points. A decisive factor for the diminution of this gap were the tax reforms of the past years, which had not only social but also a regional equalisation effects as well as the continuous economical structure adjustment of the regions.

The poorest communities in Burgenland can be found in the North. Only two districts in this province achieve a purchasing power index above the Austrian average: the capital of the province, Eisenstadt with 120,4 points and Eisenstadt Land with 101,7 index points. On municipality level tourism is the main factor influencing the purchasing power. With Neusiedl, Breitenbrunn or Mörbisch the municipalities around lake Neusiedlersee l belong the richest in the purchasing power ranking of the province Burgenland.

Güssing and Jennersdorf in the South not only belong to the poorest municipalities in this province but also in the whole of Austria. Güssing achieves only 85,7 index points, Jennersdorf around 86,3 points.