Number of Migrants in Austria at Record High: Vienna Remains Hotspot
The number of people born abroad in Austria has slightly increased. According to the new brochure "Bundesländer" by the Austrian Integration Fund (ÖIF), as of January 1, 2025, 22.7 percent of the total population, amounting to 2.085 million people, had a foreign birthplace. The year before, it was 22.3 percent and 2.038 million. Germans represent the largest immigrant group, both overall and in the year 2024.
Germans Largest Immigrant Group in Austria
Around 270,500 people in Austria were born in Germany. They are followed by the countries of origin Bosnia and Herzegovina (179,800), Turkey (166,800), and Romania (148,600). Syria (94,800) and Afghanistan (48,200) are countries from which there have been recent refugee movements, ranking seventh and twelfth; Ukraine, which is at war with Russia, ranks eighth (88,700).
Austrians Emigrated More Often Than They Immigrated
Germany was also the top country of origin in 2024 - according to ÖIF, nearly 19,400 arrivals from the neighboring country were recorded. In total, around 178,600 people immigrated to Austria last year. 85,100 came from EU and EFTA countries as well as from the United Kingdom, 79,900 from third countries, and the rest were Austrians. Meanwhile, 128,500 people emigrated abroad. Austrian citizens emigrated more often than they immigrated, with a negative balance of minus 5,700 people.
Majority of Migrants Live in Vienna
39.8 percent of migrants live in Vienna, and people with a foreign place of birth also made up 40.9 percent of the population in the capital at the beginning of 2025. At the other end of the ranking is Burgenland, where only 2.0 percent of migrants live in the easternmost federal state.
In the 2023/24 school year, 26.4 percent of students had a first language other than German. In comparison: in the previous school year 2022/23, it was slightly more at 27.0 percent, but significantly less ten years ago at 21.3 percent. In Vienna, the proportion of students with a first language other than German was significantly higher at exactly 50 percent in 2023/24, and ten years ago the percentage was already at 46.8 percent.
Criticism from Vienna's ÖVP and FPÖ
Vienna is reaching its limits, commented Vienna's ÖVP club chairman Harald Zierfuß on Sunday, stating that the city government of SPÖ and NEOS would only watch and endanger educational opportunities. Vienna's FPÖ chairman Dominik Nepp once again demanded that social benefits such as minimum security be linked to Austrian citizenship. The Secretary General of the federal FPÖ, Michael Schnedlitz, wants an "immediate asylum stop".
(APA/Red)
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