As an export-oriented country with strong international links, Austria was unavoidably affected by developments in the international markets. The difficult boundary conditions increasingly impacted the Austrian economy in the course of the year. While a slight economic growth was still registered during the first three quarters of 2008, the fourth quarter already saw a shrinkage in real terms of 0.2 %. For the year 2008 as a whole, the economy grew by 1.8 %. However, the experts already predict a slight reduction of the economic output for 2009. According to the forecasts, the Austrian economy is expected to grow an average 1.3 % during the period from 2009 to 2013, which would cut the economic growth rate of the last five years to half. The Austrian economic area has one of the densest banking networks in Europe. In recent years, the financial institutions were able to extend their network considerably in the countries of Eastern Europe. As a result, the massive setback in growth in Central and Eastern Europe negatively impacted the growth of Austria’s banks.

In spite of the finance crisis, the Austrian leasing market grew by 4 % in 2008. With regard to new business, vehicle leasing expanded by 4.2 %. A similar growth of 4.8 % was also achieved in the equipment business, dominated by ship leasing and lease financing of aircraft and photovoltaic installations. Notwithstanding the challenging economic boundary conditions, new business in the field of real estate leasing increased by 2.4 %.