1.
Perfect placement
With its growing multilingual workforce and strategic location between East and West, Austria is ideally situated to capitalise on foreign trade. No wonder that the country’s domestic goods and service exports are set to exceed the €300bn threshold by 2025.

2.
Room to grow
Innovation is key to this booming export market. The government’s Research, Technology and Innovation Strategy 2030 provides a clear path to investment for startups while established companies have boosted R&D expenditure to 3.3 per cent of Austria’s GDP last year, beating EU targets.

3.
Investment in people
In the 19th century, the Austrian school of economics emphasised the importance of the individual. Today that legacy can be felt in a country that puts people at the heart of a growing economy. Austria tops OECD countries for vocational training and career opportunities abound with more than 400 market-leading companies based here.

4.
Work-life balance
Of course, work isn’t everything – and Austrians certainly know how to enjoy life. Vibrant cities like Salzburg and Vienna hit all the top quality-of-life metrics, while ski resorts, Alpine hikes and crystal-clear bathing lakes rejuvenate the body, mind and spirit.

5.
A healthy outlook
With excellent social and medical security, Austria gives you the confidence to live life to the fullest. The world-class healthcare system is well-funded, accessible to all and boasts a high doctor-patient ratio.

6.
Creative fulfillment
From Mozart and Fritz Lang to the artists of the Vienna Succession, Austria is synonymous with ground-breaking culture. So, while the Salzburg Festival, the Vienna State Opera and more than 500 museums (including the new Wien Museum) celebrate these homegrown talents, that creativity lives on in a new generation too.

7.
Exquisite taste
Viennese coffee houses have been hosting inspiring conversations for centuries and Austria’s food-and-drink scene continues to think creatively today. Pioneering chefs such as Steirereck’s Heinz Reitbauer are utilising fresh local produce in innovative ways, while Vienna was named best city at the EU Organic Awards. And an Austrian wine renaissance is gaining momentum, led by imaginative winemakers from Vorarlberg to Burgenland.

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Case study 1
Weingut Strehn

One prominent exponent of the Austrian wine renaissance is Pia Strehn, who runs her family winery in Deutschkreutz with brothers Andy and Patrick.

With its warm climate and sheltering hills, Burgenland has ideal conditions for producing opulent reds that are comparable with other world-class wine-growing regions such as Bordeaux and Piedmont. However, the recent global decline in red wine consumption is forcing vintners to change tack.

Deutschkreutz’s Weingut Strehn was ahead of the curve and typifies the Austrian approach of balancing a respect for tradition with a desire for inventive solutions. The Strehn family has been engaged in winemaking for four generations, yet when Pia Strehn and her brothers, Andy and Patrick, took over the business in 2012, they decided to shift their focus to rosé. In doing so, they wanted to change the perception of it simply being an easy-drinking option. “I wanted to make something new, something that nobody else did before,” says Strehn. “Rosé was just a great way to do that and change the world a little bit.”

Weingut Strehn has continued to innovate, experimenting with fermentation processes, winning Red Dot design awards for its labels and recently expanding production facilities with the aim of increasing export sales to 50 per cent. Strehn feels well supported by the Austrian wine industry yet is aware of the need to educate consumers on rosé’s potential through regular tasting events. “People are always surprised because they haven’t tasted a rosé that is so complex,” she says, pouring Monocle a glass of Muccia, which has an oyster-like saltiness. “You can serve this instead of red wine with meat or a tuna tartare.”

If every bottle tastes this good, Austria’s wine renaissance will continue to gather pace.

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Case study 2
Artivive

Founded in 2017 by Codin Popescu and Sergiu Ardelean, Artivive is a groundbreaking Vienna start-up that combines traditional artistry with augmented reality.

While nothing beats the thrill of getting close to world-renowned masterpieces in a gallery, it is our smartphones that provide the gateway to these cultural experiences, whether buying digital tickets or discovering new shows online.

As CEO of Artivive, a Vienna-based augmented reality (AR) platform, Sergiu Ardelean believes that art and creativity are developing in two opposing directions: analogue and digital. “What we’re doing with Artivive is bringing these two worlds together,” he says.

Artivive allows creatives to develop AR content that is triggered by real-world artworks or locations. The app’s potential has already led to collaborations with Ikea and Vienna’s Albertina museum, as Ardelean and co-founder Codin Popescu have cultivated a community of more than 450,000 creatives eager to find new applications for the technology.

Born in Romania, Ardelean is a graduate of Austria’s University of Applied Sciences and proud of the the opportunities that his adopted home provides. “It’s great to be a start-up in Vienna because the quality of life is amazing and it is easy to find talent,” he says. “Staff costs are cheaper than the US and employees tend to remain with the company for longer.”

Ardelean is also a member of the Bold Community, a global network of visionaries and thought leaders convened by the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in 2022, and he appreciates the real-world conversations it has sparked. “Sixty per cent of communication is non-verbal and that’s very hard to have online,” he says. “It’s great to have a platform where you can say, ‘I’m doing a project in your space, maybe we can do something together?’”