Leading Industries

The automotive sector has by now become a traditional Styrian strength, a fact manifested in the large number of employees and high export volume. In addition to this, there is significant technological expertise in the competence fields of rail systems and aerospace, with exceptional growth potential for manufacturing high-value niche products. Besides autonomous driving, lightweight construction, increasing electronics and IT in vehicles, eco-friendly innovations and smart production, advanced by digitisation also boost the technological development.

Styrian Mobility Cluster AC Styria: Including 300 members in three fields of competence, 70,000 employees and €17 billion in annual turnover, ACstyria integrates members of the Styrian mobility industry and strengthens Styria’s position as an internationally renowned region of research, development and production. With global players and technology leaders, renowned universities and research facilities, as well as competence centres in Automotive, Aerospace and Rail Systems, ACstyria ensures that Styria’s mobility industry keeps moving.

Efficient and sustainable usage of natural resources has become increasingly important, and Styria is extremely competitive in the underlying technological fields. These areas exhibit a medium to long-term growth perspective through investments in technology development. Besides green energy and green resources, the emphasis is also on green building. The guiding theme of green tech also incorporates timber and its value chain as a renewable resource, which is especially important for Styria with its abundance of forests.

Green Tech Cluster: The Styrian Green Tech Cluster is the global hotspot for innovative energy and environmental technologies. Located in Styria, Austria it is home to 220 companies and research institutions developing the green technologies of the future.

Innovations related to health and food exhibit high growth and employment potential, not least due to demographic processes. Styria has positioned itself within the promising field of health technology / life sciences with three strategic corridors in engineering and biosciences. The objective for the foodstuffs industry is the bundling of Styrian competences in innovative food processing, food technology, quality and safety and food-specific services.

Styrian Health Tech Cluster: Human.technology Styria with over 110 economic and scientific members is positioned at the hub of an internationally oriented region of innovators and suppliers, covering the whole value chain of the life science industry.

In the context of Europe’s microelectronics industry, Styria provides a highly sophisticated industrial profile, contributing significantly in attaining European goals in the field of microelectronic and nanoelectronic components and systems. Three integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) are based in Austria, two of which have local production capacities. The region additionally boasts a number of leading international equipment suppliers, strong niche players in the software and electronics sector, several small and medium-sized research centres and cluster organisations, as well as a good selection of specialised university departments. All of this is complemented by powerful user industries (especially in the automotive, aeronautic and rail sector), supporting the vertical integration of innovative microelectronic solutions in highly developed local value chains.

Microelectronics Cluster Silicon Alps: Silicon Alps is a technology and innovation cluster for electronic-based systems in the Southern Austrian provinces Styria and Carinthia. It consists of over 120 partners from industry and science. These businesses provide jobs for 23 thousand to 30 thousand people in Austria and for 35 thousand to 46 thousand people worldwide. If the relevant value added chains of the ECSEL-Austria target group (Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership) are included, there are likely to be between 65 thousand and 85 thousand employees (directly and indirectly) working in the field of microelectronics, embedded systems and smart systems integration in Austria. The sales volume generated by these companies amounts to more than 15 billion euros.

Styrian Materials Cluster: Over the last two decades Materials Center Leoben (MCL) has established itself as a renowned partner for the industry in materials and surface technology. MCL cooperates with more than 100 national and international partners from industry and science.

The Styrian forestry and timber has emerged as an important regional strength, still showing a great potential for growth. Currently the sector includes 5,300 enterprises, 55,000 jobs and a gross production value of 5 billion Euros.

Styrian Timber Cluster: Over the last decade timber has developed into a high-tech product, whose full performance is yet to reach. Diverse Styrian research projects – in paper and pulp industry, on the construction sector or in the field energy crops – reflect the fast and promising development of this natural raw material.

Styria has a profound competence in the area of machinery and plant engineering including the production and procedural technologies as well as associated engineering services. The construction of plants and systems (encompassing the planning, delivery, and assembly of turn-key production facilities, including the required know-how and operational expertise) is making up an increasingly important share. This field is strongly export-oriented.

The logistics sector has been firmly anchored in Styria for decades. Specialising in planning and implementing turnkey automated logistics systems, Styrian enterprises assume a leading global role, exporting all over the world. Levels of export have reached over 95 percent.

Styrian Creative Cluster: Creative Industries Styria serves as a major link between creative industries and the traditional economy. It aims to improve the efficiency and performance in the market for both sides as a mutually beneficial network.