Austria's population grows: migrant proportion over 27 percent!

Austria's population grows: migrant proportion over 27 percent!

Vienna, Österreich - The proportion of people with a migration background in Austria reached 27.8 percent in 2024, which corresponds to around 2.51 million people. This increase is seen as an important sign of demographic development in the country. The number of migrants in Austria has grown by around 38 percent since 2015, which corresponds to an increase of 696,100 people. According to [vienna.at] (https://www.vienna.at/oesterreichs- migranteilteil-auber-ueber-27- percent, the population of Austria grows exclusively through migration because the birth rate is negative-there are more deaths than births. The presentation of the Statistical Yearbook Migration & Integration 2025 in the Chancellery underpinned these trends.

without immigration, the population would fall to 6.9 million by 2069, i.e. 24 percent compared to 2024. In such a scenario, the population could fall back to the level of the 1950s. Migration, on the other hand, is predicted to around 10.2 million by 2080, which corresponds to an increase of 11 percent. Integration Minister Claudia Plakolm emphasized the need for integrative measures and language training for migrants during the presentation.

demographic insights and surveys

The current evaluation shows that 1.9 million people of the first generation, i.e. born abroad, and around 634,000 belong to the second generation that has seen the light of day in Austria. This data comes from the statistical yearbook “Migration & Integration”, which provides current information about migrants in Austria. Around 45.1 percent of immigrants at home mainly communicate in their language of origin, while only 16.4 percent use the German language, which indicates a multicultural influence.

A look at the perception of living together shows that 46.2 percent of those born in Austria rate the cooperation rather bad or very bad, while 57.9 percent of immigrants consider it good or very good. Syrians (83.6 percent) and Bosnian (79.8 percent) feel particularly strong in Austria, compared to only 64.7 percent of those born in Ukraine.

asylum and immigration

The number of asylum applications fell from 112,272 in 2022 to 25,360 in 2024. The majority of the asylum applications came from Syrians, followed by Afghans and Turks. At the same time, there were around 17,000 asylum grants in 2024, with most of them went to Syrian citizens. The number of people who received subsidiary protection was also 7,800.

The largest immigration groups in recent years have been the Germans, Romanians, Turks and Serbs, while the strongest growth has been recorded by Ukrainians and Syrians since 2020. Statistics show that the proportion of foreign nationals in Austria continuously increases and now constitutes around 20.2 percent of the total population. The educational opportunities have also improved, with the proportion of foreign nationals with a maximum compulsory school leaving certificate in the past decade.

labor market and social integration

The employment rate among people with a migration background was 69 percent in 2024, while this value is 76.4 percent for Austrians. The unemployment rate for Austrians was 5.7 percent, but 10.5 percent among foreign nationals. People from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq are particularly impaired, whose unemployment rate is up to 31.3 percent. In order to meet the challenges, the number of people in training measures in 2024 increased by 7.1 percent to 75,000, which is a positive development.

Overall, the current data on migration and integration in Austria are a reflection of complexity and the challenges of an increasingly diversified society. The need to promote integrative efforts, such as language courses and adaptation programs, is emphasized by the Minister of Integration to ensure a successful and harmonious co-existence of all people living in Austria.