ABSTRACT
An initial spurt of industrialization prior to World War I in which only a portion of the Austrian population participated was followed during the crisis-torn interwar years by stagnation or deceleration of the process. As an initial approach to reconstructing a chronology of the secular transformation of the Austrian economy and society, two relatively easily quantifiable criteria come into consideration: the respective degree of urbanization and the structure of the workforce. After 1945, the transition from an agrarian to an industrial and, finally, to a service economy was completed, so that modernization ultimately encompassed virtually all of Austrian society. Besides increasing domestic production, the non-agricultural population of Austria also had greater quantities of imported foodstuffs available. The divergent development of the Vienna metropolitan area and the rest of Austria was also reflected in basic demographic data. Over the course of the transition to a service economy, tourism became an even more independent sector and one of critical importance to Austria.
