Life expectancy in Austria is close to the OECD average, but Austrian’s smoke and drink more than people in other countries. While access to health care is good, quality of care indicators show more mixed results. Austria spends more on health than the OECD average.

This note presents selected country highlights from the OECD Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2017 with a specific focus on digital trends among all themes covered.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Vienna on 5-6 March 2018, to visit the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), where he will meet with IIASA Senior Management as well as with researchers from Mexico.

The Co-operative Research Programme (CRP)'s Call for Applications for conference sponsorship and research fellowships for funding in 2019 is now CLOSED. The CRP supports work on sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture, forests, fisheries and food production.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, will be in Salzburg on 29-30 August 2018 to attend the Trilogue Salzburg “Taking Stock of Democracy - Still a Success Story or not Competitive Anymore?” event, organised by Bertelsmann Stiftung.

Mr. Angel Gurría, Secretary-General of the OECD, was in Vienna on 7-8 September 2018 to attend the Eurogroup Meeting / Informal Meeting of Economic and Financial Affairs Ministers (ECOFIN).

The digital revolution, globalisation and demographic changes are transforming labour markets at a time when policy makers are also struggling with slow productivity and wage growth and high levels of income inequality. The new OECD Jobs Strategy provides a comprehensive framework and policy recommendations to help countries address these challenges.

Government at a Glance provides a dashboard of key indicators to help you analyse international comparisons of public sector performance.

Uruguay is the 54 most competitive nation in the world out of 140 countries ranked in the 2018 edition of the Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum. Competitiveness Rank in Uruguay averaged 68.46 from 2007 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 85 in 2014 and a record low of 50 in 2017. The most recent 2018 edition of Global Competitiveness Report assesses 140 economies. In 2018, the World Economic Forum introduced a new methodology emphasizing the role of human capital, innovation, resilience and agility, as not only drivers but also defining features of economic success in the 4th Industrial Revolution. As a result, the GCI scale changed to 1 to 100 from 1 to 7, with higher average score meaning higher degree of competitiveness. The report is made up of 98 variables organized into twelve pillars with the most important including: institutions; infrastructure; ICT adoption; macroeconomic stability; health; skills; product market; labour market; financial system; market size; business dynamism; and innovation capability. This page provides the latest reported value for - Uruguay Competitiveness Rank - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Uruguay is the 21 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Rank in Uruguay averaged 27.14 from 1997 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 42 in 1998 and a record low of 19 in 2013. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. This page provides the latest reported value for - Uruguay Corruption Rank - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The transportation sub-index of the CPI basket in Uruguay increased to 201.41 points in April of 2020 from 200.75 points in March of 2020. CPI Transportation in Uruguay averaged 101.82 points from 1997 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 201.41 points in April of 2020 and a record low of 34.75 points in March of 1997. This page provides - Uruguay Cpi Transportation- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Government Debt in Romania increased to 323601.80 RON Million in the second quarter of 2019 from 314907.90 RON Million in the first quarter of 2019. Government Debt in Romania averaged 187764.88 RON Million from 2006 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 323601.80 RON Million in the second quarter of 2019 and a record low of 38469.80 RON Million in the fourth quarter of 2006. This page provides the latest reported value for - Romania Central Government Debt - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Government Debt in Canada increased to 685.45 CAD Billion in 2019 from 671.25 CAD Billion in 2018. Government Debt in Canada averaged 315.18 CAD Billion from 1962 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 685.45 CAD Billion in 2019 and a record low of 14.83 CAD Billion in 1962. This page provides - Canada Government Debt- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Government Debt in Germany decreased to 1899167.55 EUR Million in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 1930352.07 EUR Million in the third quarter of 2019. Government Debt in Germany averaged 1568450.35 EUR Million from 1995 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 2082420.07 EUR Million in the second quarter of 2012 and a record low of 968305.53 EUR Million in the third quarter of 1995. This page provides - Germany Government Debt- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Government Debt in Netherlands decreased to 402002 EUR Million in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 415619 EUR Million in the third quarter of 2019. Government Debt in Netherlands averaged 331062.12 EUR Million from 1999 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 444527 EUR Million in the first quarter of 2015 and a record low of 203865 EUR Million in the fourth quarter of 1999. This page provides - Netherlands Government Debt- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Government Debt in France decreased to 2380.10 EUR Billion in the fourth quarter of 2019 from 2414.70 EUR Billion in the third quarter of 2019. Government Debt in France averaged 1453.46 EUR Billion from 1995 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 2414.70 EUR Billion in the third quarter of 2019 and a record low of 683.50 EUR Billion in the fourth quarter of 1995. This page provides the latest reported value for - France General Government Debt - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Morocco is the 80 least corrupt nation out of 175 countries, according to the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International. Corruption Rank in Morocco averaged 74.52 from 1998 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 91 in 2013 and a record low of 37 in 2000. The Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory's rank indicates its position relative to the other countries and territories in the index. This page provides the latest reported value for - Morocco Corruption Rank - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

The transportation sub-index of the CPI basket in Morocco decreased to 109.90 points in March of 2020 from 111.90 points in February of 2020. CPI Transportation in Morocco averaged 108.35 points from 2008 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 114 points in July of 2014 and a record low of 102.70 points in March of 2009. This page provides - Morocco Cpi Transportation- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Banks Balance Sheet in Morocco decreased to 1426031 MAD Million in February from 1431200 MAD Million in January of 2020. Banks Balance Sheet in Morocco averaged 872056.34 MAD Million from 2001 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 1448618 MAD Million in December of 2019 and a record low of 360422.93 MAD Million in March of 2002. This page provides - Morocco Banks Balance Sheet - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

G20 finance ministers have agreed new principles on financial consumer protection developed by the OECD. “Without consumer trust and confidence we could jeopardise the basis for global economic recovery and growth,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría.

At this Financial Regulation Session of the G20 Leaders Summit, M. Gurría spoke of 'a comprehensive reform of the international financial architecture that should include financial inclusion, protection and education'.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis has exposed structural weaknesses in economic governance that now threaten the entire euro region. Efforts to reinforce public finances and preserve the currency union must go further than solutions proposed to date.

The OECD/INFE High level Principles on National Strategies for Financial Education provide international guidance to policy makers with a view to developing evidence-based, co-ordinated and tailored approaches to financial education, both in emerging markets and more advanced economies. G20 Leaders recognised the important role of financial education policies when they endorsed these Principles in 2012.

This seminar aimed to advance shared understandings on policies to make the most of cross-border capital flows in support of growth and development and on the value of international co-operation, including the OECD Codes of Liberalisation, in the current context of serious global financial turbulence.

The Latin American Economic Outlook 2013: SME Policies for Productive Development will be launched at the Ibero-American Summit in Cadiz, Spain, on Friday 16 November. This long-standing flagship of the OECD Development Centre is co-published with the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

This study models the distance-to-default (DTD) of a large sample of banks from 2004 to 2011 and examines the results from the perspective of policy approaches that aim to reduce the riskiness of banks.

G20 Finance Ministers have welcomed a new OECD/G20 framework designed to help governments develop financial strategies for disaster risk management.

Financial-market complexity shouldn't lead to crisis. There is a better, simpler way: Split the banks.

A complement to the OECD insurance database, this report monitors and analyses the insurance industry’s overall performance and health in OECD countries and Hong Kong (China), India, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría opens the Global Forum on Better Governance for Inclusive Growth held in Paris. The Forum will focus on public sector reforms worldwide and identify lessons learned, good practices and innovative solutions for advancing the governance reforms necessary to foster inclusive growth.

OECD countries are intensifying their fiscal consolidation efforts, introducing additional measures and extending the time horizon to implement them. Most have announced fiscal consolidation of more than 3% of GDP over the period 2009-15, according to the OECD’s Restoring Public Finances 2012.

This report concludes that actual application of bail-ins, involving bondholders in loss sharing, could effectively reign in perceptions of implicit guarantees for bank debt. However, bail-ins are rare owing to concerns about contagion risks and depositor and investor protection, so implicit guarantees persist.

Paris, 5 December 2012: This conference addressed the evolution of the terrorism threat and whether current insurance solutions adequately answer the needs of market players in an ever changing risk context.

Big changes are needed to strengthen the capital positions of euro area banks. European banks remain at the heart of the euro area crisis. Despite actions to strengthen banks and build a banking union, confidence in the euro area banking system remains weak, and is likely to remain so until underlying concerns over low capitalisation of some banks are addressed.

This conference in Nairobi, Kenya, addressed specific issues relating to financial literacy in Africa and the MENA region. It presented the output of the Russia/OECD/World Bank Trust Fund on Financial Literacy and Education.

This conference, taking place on 4-5 March 2013 in New Delhi, India, addressed specific issues relating to financial literacy in India and the Asia region. It presented the output of the Russia/OECD/World Bank Trust Fund on Financial Literacy and Education.

London, UK. Discussions at this event focused on how to make Defined Contribution pensions work better for members, designing Defined Ambition pension plans, guarantees v. risk sharing pension deals and pensions communication and individual behaviour.

This article by OECD Deputy Secretary-General Rintaro Tamaki focuses on three issues that will be important in shaping the future of the Asian economic and financial community: trade, funding long-term investment and strengthened regional financial co-operation.

This article summarises discussions from a financial roundtable addressing concerns about structural flaws in the way banks operate and are being regulated and supervised in the wake of on-going banking sector problems involving financial fraud and banking scandals.

The management of operational risk is at the heart of efficient government, but countries often fail to apply good or even routine operational risk management practices and have difficulty in understanding how to put the processes in place. This paper sets out a widely-applicable and relevant policy approach and management framework and illustrates its practical application in Turkey.

The OECD provides an update on global economy in this statement to the International Monetary and Financial Committee - April 2013.

This statement by Adrian Blundell-Wignall and Paul Atkinson was presented to the German Bundestag's Finance Committee Hearing on the Draft Bank-Separation Law (Drucksache 17/12601) on 22 April 2013.

There are good reasons why the public has lost confidence in banking and finance. Two issues in particular must be addressed before it can be restored– moral hazard and conflict of interest. Reforms should ensure that banks and bankers–not taxpayers–pay the price of failure and are held fully accountable for their actions.

The paper argues that interest rates are at extremely low levels to support banks, and the search for yield has pushed the liquidity driven speculative bubble from real estate, derivatives and structured products markets into the corporate debt market. Equities have rallied strongly too. This asset cycle is certainly helping banks reduce hidden losses on illiquid securities and could also help reduce the cost of equity.

The crisis has shown that there is no such thing as an optimal banking structure or model. The Liikanen report highlighted excessive risk taking and excessive reliance on short-term funding not matched with adequate capital protection. The French reform of the banking sector builds on this insight as well as the agreement reached by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the European CRD 4 to foster financial stability.

Co-organised by the G20 Russian Presidency and the OECD, this roundtable focused on policy measures to address constraints in long-term investment. It was organised back-to-back with the 2013 OECD Forum and the OECD-Euromoney Infrastructure Summit.

This conference in Moscow explored strategies for developing financial literacy and capability and building effective consumer protection systems.

Whether you blame poor regulation, sloppy governance, greed or bad luck, banks were frontline culprits in causing the crisis. Governments have been working on reforms to fix the financial sector and improve governance, but a lot more work remains to be done. Some OECD principles can help.

At a time when many governments are looking to encourage private investment in infrastructure to bridge the infrastructure financing gap, this paper compares the experience of pension funds in Canada and Australia, looking at infrastructure policies, the pension system, investment strategies, asset allocation and governance of pension funds.

Sovereign index-linked bond issuance has grown significantly since the early 1980s and index-linked bonds have become a widely accepted part of the set of instruments that sovereign debt managers use for funding purposes. This paper sets out a methodology for assessing their cost effectiveness relative to other financing options, using UK examples for illustration.