Only Slight Population Growth in Austria Last Year

A slight population growth of 0.4 percent in 2024 resulted from international immigration, leading to 9,197,213 people living in Austria as of January 1st of the current year - around 20 percent of whom were foreign nationals. The number of deaths in 2024 exceeded the number of live births by 11,248, according to the final results of the population statistics from Statistics Austria.

Accordingly, about 50,000 more people immigrated to Austria from abroad than emigrated abroad. "The birth balance, on the other hand, was negative for the fifth consecutive year with a deficit of around 11,000 people, dampening population growth," said Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas in a statement on Monday. The birth balance was only positive in Vienna (plus 2,153), Vorarlberg (277), and Tyrol (108).

Strongest Growth in Vienna, Slight Decline in Burgenland

In 2023, Austria's population had grown by 53,978 people or 0.6 percent. In the federal capital Vienna, there was the strongest population growth in 2024 with plus 1.1 percent, the smallest increase was in Carinthia (plus 0.1 percent), while Burgenland experienced a slight population decline (minus 0.1 percent).

In 2024, a total of 77,238 children were born, 0.5 percent less than in 2023. This brought the absolute number of live births to the lowest level since 2009. The total fertility rate in 2024 was 1.31 children per woman, slightly below the previous year's value of 1.32, reaching a new low. In contrast, a total of 88,486 people died in the same year, 1.4 percent less than the previous year.

Life expectancy at birth was 79.8 years for men and 84.3 years for women. Compared to the previous year, it increased by 0.4 years for men and 0.1 years for women. Also in 2024, a west-east gradient was observed across federal states, with higher life expectancy recorded in the western regions.

Around Two-Thirds of Immigrants Are Third-Country Nationals

The net immigration of people without Austrian citizenship (plus 55,767) in 2024 consisted of nearly one-third (32 percent) from citizens of an EU or EFTA state or citizens of the United Kingdom, and a good two-thirds (68 percent) from other third-country nationals. Among citizens of EU and EFTA states, people from Germany (plus 7,566), Hungary (4,359), and Croatia (1,601) had the highest balances. Among third-country nationals, people with Syrian (10,415), Ukrainian (7,460), and Chinese (2,301) nationality were the most prevalent.

The migration balance with foreign countries of people without Austrian citizenship in 2024 was 55 percent female and 45 percent male. In terms of age, immigration was concentrated on younger people: The strongest migration gains were among non-Austrian citizens aged 15 to 29 years (30,036).

Proportion of Foreign Nationals Rises to 20 Percent

On January 1, 2025, a total of 1,855,419 people with non-Austrian nationality lived in Austria, 54,553 more than on January 1, 2024 (1,800,866 people). The proportion of foreign nationals in the total population thus rose from 19.7 percent at the beginning of 2024 to 20.2 percent at the beginning of 2025. Vienna has the highest proportion of non-Austrian nationals at 36.4 percent, while Burgenland has the lowest proportion at 11.5 percent.

(APA/Red)

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