Naturalizations increased by 5.6 percent

The number of naturalizations increased by 5.6 percent in the first half of the year. Citizenship was granted to 11,665 people. Of these, 37.5 percent (4,369 people) had a residence abroad - almost all from this group were victims of the Nazi regime and their descendants (an increase of 5.5 percent). The number of those naturalized for other reasons was significantly larger, amounting to 7,313 people - with an increase of also 5.6 percent.

Increase in Naturalizations

In the first half of 2024, the number of naturalizations was still at 11,050 people.

Of those naturalized, "more than a third, 4,352, were victims of the Nazi regime and their descendants, all but nine of whom live abroad," explained the Director General of Statistics Austria, Thomas Burg, in a press release on Wednesday. Politically persecuted individuals of the Nazi regime and their descendants have had the opportunity for naturalization since September 2020, without having to give up their previous citizenship in return. Most of these naturalized individuals were from Israel (2,409), the USA (1,088), and the United Kingdom (432).

Among those naturalized for other reasons between January and June 2025, there was (as overall) an increase of 5.6 percent to 7,313, according to Burg. Of these, all but 26 people have their residence in Austria.

Syria, Turkey, Afghanistan

Most of the newly naturalized from this group came from Syria (1,247 or 10.7 percent of the total), followed by people from Turkey (808 or 6.9 percent) and Afghanistan (558 or 4.8 percent).

Half of the newly naturalized in the first half of 2025 are women (50.2 percent). Almost a third of the new citizens were under 18 years old.

There was an increase in naturalizations in the first half of the year in six of the nine federal states. Only in Carinthia, Upper Austria, and Salzburg did this number decrease.

(APA/Red)

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