Purchase power on the upswing: rural regions outperform cities!

Purchase power on the upswing: rural regions outperform cities!

Purchasing power in Austria shows increasingly positive developments, especially in rural regions. Despite the challenges that have brought with it for the past few years - including pandemic and high inflation - the available income has increased in many places. According to an analysis by Regiodata Research, the average purchasing power per capita has grown by around 40 percent since 2014, with further climbs forecast being forecast for 2024 and 2025. An inflation rate of less than three percent is expected for 2023, while the purchasing power continues to increase reports.

In large cities, especially in Vienna, a different picture is shown. Here the growth behind the expectations remains. In many Viennese districts, the growth of the past ten years is even less than 30 percent. The inner city has the highest purchasing power at 44,686 euros per capita, but since 2014 the increase has been more modest with only 14 percent. Cities like Linz, Graz and Klagenfurt are not better in their purchasing power and also have below average growth.

purchasing power in rural areas on the advance

While the cities are stagnating, rural areas show impressive growth: Lienz leads the ranking with an increase of 54 percent, followed by Murau with 53 percent and tam path with 51 percent. This trend is not only gratifying, but also a result of regional investments, increasing employment opportunities and an increasing move to these regions. So the analysis.

regional differences and challenges

The regional differences in purchasing power remain and show a growing gradient between strong and weak districts in the cities. This topic is not only limited to Austria, experts also observe similarities in German space. For example, a GfK study predicts that the purchasing power of the Germans in 2025 will increase average to 29,566 euros per capita. But here too, rising consumer prices are a challenge that could ensure that this nominal increase does not bring the hoped-for real profit for consumers

A further consideration by the institute of the German economy emphasizes that purchasing power and prosperity not only depend on income, but are also strongly shaped by the regional living costs . These factors should not be neglected in the discussion about increases in purchase.