VIENNA, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The Austrian economy will see a significant cooling in 2019 with the strong growth of the past years winding down, two leading economic research institutes said on Thursday.
The Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO) anticipates a drop from this year's expected 2.7 percent growth to 2 percent next year, while the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) expects an even lower 1.7 percent growth in the coming year.
The trend is expected to continue into 2020, with WIFO forecasting a 1.8 percent growth, and IHS 1.6 percent, on the back of a weaker global economy and numerous economic uncertainties.
The primary risk factors at present are a hard Brexit and trade tensions including the looming threat of economic protectionism.
Unemployment is expected to continue to fall. WIFO expects a drop from this year's 7.7 percent, to 7.3 percent and 7.2 percent over the next two years respectively, as per Austria's domestic calculation criteria.
The IHS expects this rate to sit at around 7.5 percent for the coming two years.
