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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
Population: demographic situation, languages and religions

Austria

1.Political, social and economic background and trends

1.3Population: demographic situation, languages and religions

Last update: 9 June 2022
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Demographic situation

Austria is a landlocked country in southern Central Europe. The federal territory comprises nine provinces: Burgenland, Lower Austria, Carinthia, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Vienna with a total area of around 84,000 square kilometres. The Republic is divided into 116 political districts and 2,120 municipalities (figures from 2018, source: Statistics Austria). Vienna is the federal capital of Austria and also a province in its own right.

According to the latest data, Austria has 8,916,845 inhabitants (source: Statistics Austria, 2020). The biggest conurbations with the most inhabitants are Vienna, Graz, Linz and Salzburg. The federal capital Vienna is the only city with over a million people in Austria. Currently around 1.9 million people live there (source: Statista GmbH). Measured by the number of their inhabitants, the second and third biggest provinces are Lower Austria and Upper Austria (Figure 1). With 4,522,292 female inhabitants, women make up 51% of the population in Austria (source: Statistics Austria).

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Figure 1: Average population of Austria by region in 2016, in percent

 

Source: Statistics Austria, in-house calculations

Like in other industrial countries, the rising life expectancy and lower birth rates in Austria are shifting the balance towards older population groups. In 2017 the average age of Austrians was 42.5 years, which means a rise of 1.7% in the last ten years (source: Statista GmbH). The life expectancy of women in 2016 was 84 years (82.65 years in 2006) and for men it was 79.1 years (77.1 in 2006) (source: Statista GmbH). Figure 2 shows the change in the age pyramid in the last 20 years: from 1996 to 2016 the share fell in the age group of 0-19 year-olds and rose in the 65+ age group.

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Figure 2: Age distribution in Austria, in 1996 and 2016, in percent

 

Source: Statistics Austria, in-house calculations

There is continuous positive development in the number of inhabitants in Austria. On the one hand this is due to the rising birth rate – in 2016 the number of births (87,675) exceeded the number of deaths (80,669) – and also to increasing migration (source: Statistics Austria). Since the mid-1980s there has been positive net migration (number of migrants coming into Austria minus the number of migrants leaving the country). It increased after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. Since the turn of the millennium, more and more people have decided to live in Austria, in particular for economic reasons. High net migration could also be seen in 2015: a huge influx of refugees led to a considerable rise in the share of people of non-Austrian nationality (Figure 3).

In the year 2019, there were 150 419 immigrations to Austria and 109 806 emigrations abroad which resulted in a net-migration gain of 40 613 persons (2018: 35 301 persons).

Generally most people immigrate from EU or EFTA states. In recent years the share of people with citizenship of an Asian country has also grown (Figure 4).

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Figure 3: Migration balance in Austria in 1989 and 2016, total numbers

 

Source: Statistics Austria

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Figure 4: Nationality of migrants in 2007 and 2016, total numbers

 

Source: Statistics Austria

The unemployment rate in Austria is lower than in other European states. After the economic and financial crisis in 2008 it also increased only minimally. From 2013, however, it became apparent that unemployment increasingly represented a challenge for the Austrian labour market. In 2017/2018 there was an upturn in economic development. The unemployment rate in 2018, 2019 and 2020 was 7,7 percent, 7,4 percent and 9,9 percent (according to the national definition). (Figures 5 and 6).

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Figure 5: Unemployment rate in percent

 

Source: Statistics Austria

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Figure 6: Rate of employment (from the age of 15) in 2006 and 2016, in percent

 

Source: Statistics Austria

Austria – in comparison with other EU states – has relatively low youth unemployment, in 2017 this was at 15.8%. The reason for this is, for example, the wide range of education and training programmes available for young people (school-based and dual training). In 2018 and 2019 the rate went down. In 2020 it was again as high as in 2016.

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Figure 7: Youth unemployment rate in 2007 and 2017, in percent

 

Source: Public Employment Service Austria

Languages

The official language in Austria is German, which is also the mother tongue for a large part of the population. It is Austrian German, which, in pronunciation and in some grammatical specifics, differs from High German.

Recognised minority languages are Hungarian, Slovenian, Burgenland Croatian, Czech, Slovak, Romani and sign language. In the mixed-language districts in Carinthia, Slovenian is also an official language. In some districts of Burgenland, Hungarian and Croatian are considered equal to the German official languages.

The language (of instruction) in Austria’s day-care facilities, schools and in the tertiary sector is German. In some cases there is also bilingual instruction (day care facilities: bilingual education) in these establishments, usually in English. Some schools, in particular international schools, are run solely in a foreign language (mainly English or French). In the tertiary sector there are also degree programmes in which the education/training is entirely in a foreign language (mainly English).

To preserve minority languages, some schools at primary and secondary level, in particular in Carinthia and Burgenland, enable children to follow instruction in the Slovenian, Hungarian or Croatian language. In some cases bilingual forms – with half of the subjects in the minority language and the other in German – are also offered.

In total around 250 different languages are spoken in Austria. Alongside German, the most commonly spoken languages are Turkish, Serbian/Bosnian/Macedonian, Croatian, and Hungarian (Source: Statistics Austria). Furthermore, regional dialects are also considered highly significant in Austria.

Religions

The Roman Catholic Church is the biggest religious community in Austria. Historically, up until the 19th century it shaped the political situation of the monarchy of the time. With the Basic Law of 1867 the first steps towards secularisation, the separation of church and state, were heralded, but these were not fully completed until the start of the Second Republic. In addition, the immigration of people of different denominations led to a more diverse religious landscape.

The Austrian state and its legal system are religiously neutral and guarantee freedom of religion for everyone. Mutual acceptance, tolerance and dialogue between all religious communities represent important cornerstones. All churches and religious communities in Austria enjoy special legal protection: denigration of religious teachings and obstruction of freedom of worship are offences and, as such, are prosecuted according to Austrian criminal law. There are currently 16 legally recognised religious communities:

  • Alevi Religious Community in Austria
  • Old Catholic Church of Austria
  • Armenian Apostolic Church in Austria
  • Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession and Helvetic Confession
  • United Methodist Church in Austria
  • Free Churches in Austria
  • Greek Oriental (= Orthodox) Church in Austria
  • Islamic Religious Community in Austria
  • Jewish Religious Community
  • Jehovah’s Witnesses in Austria
  • Catholic Church
  • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in Austria
  • Coptic Orthodox Church in Austria
  • New Apostolic Church in Austria
  • Austrian Buddhist Religious Association
  • Syrian Orthodox Church in Austria

All pupils who belong to a legally recognised church or religious community are given religious education of their denomination (as a compulsory subject but with the possibility of opting out) in public schools, and here the costs for religious education are borne by the state. For example, religious textbooks are also co-financed with the school book initiative (pupils are provided free of charge with the necessary teaching materials by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research).

Religious communities maintain private day care facilities (crèches, after-school day-care facilities, kindergartens) and also private schools at primary and secondary level. For private kindergartens the corresponding provincial laws of the nine Austrian provinces apply. Religious schools fall under the Private School Act (Federal Act from 25 July 1962 on the Private School Sector) (cf. 2.4 Organisation of Private Education). Around 28% of all private kindergartens and around 5% of all schools are run by a recognised religious community (source: Statistics Austria). This means these are the most significant private educational providers in Austria. Religion teachers are trained in university colleges of teacher education or theological faculties at universities.

For several years there have been discussions on whether to introduce compulsory ethics classes at schools. This is currently being tested at a few schools for pupils who do not attend religion classes.

Relevant Legislation