Viennese invoice: 1.77 billion euros Deficit - success despite the crisis!

Viennese invoice: 1.77 billion euros Deficit - success despite the crisis!

In the Vienna municipal council, the invoice for 2024 was discussed and presented on June 23, 2025. GR Christian Deutsch (SPÖ) emphasized that this conclusion represents more than a pure figure. He reflects the political action of the city government, which has achieved high investments and social means in a challenging economic climate. Despite the difficulties, Vienna graduates better than originally budgeted, which shows up in a deficit of 1.77 billion euros. This is almost half a billion euros less than planned, because a minus of 2.24 billion euros had been forecast in advance. Although Vienna misses around 3.5 billion euros through various tax policy measures, the capital of Austria's economic engine, in which every fourth euro is generated.

German also reported liquid funds of 2 billion euros and found that the city government continues to rely on investments in areas such as quality of life, social affairs, health and education. Over 11.4 billion euros flowed into the social, which is more than half of the budget. The health area thus received 3.1 billion euros, while 3.3 billion euros were spent on care and social support.

criticism and demands of the opposition

Despite the overall positive figures, various factions in the local council have considerable criticism. GR Georg Prack (Greens) warns of an increasing budget deficit and calls for a detailed program to solve central future questions. He expressed concerns about possible cuts in climate protection and public services and pleaded for a vacancy tax to open up new sources of income.

Strin Mag. Ulrike Nittmann (FPÖ) agreed to this and described the invoice as accounting. She warned that lack of investments and rising interest rates could lead to considerable stress in the future and called for a real renovation plan and a comprehensive administrative reform. Her party colleague Str Stefan Berger also mentioned the record debt and the lack of educational staff.

The current labor market situation

Another central topic in the discussion was the labor market situation in Vienna. The unemployment rate is currently around 11.3 percent, which is higher compared to other federal states. This shows that despite the growth of employment in the city, which was released in April 2025 with over 933,000 dependent employees, there is still a need for action. In comparison to the previous year's evaluation, however, the unemployment rates have improved slightly and are now 11.5 percent.

The fiscal political context is underpinned by reporting the fiscal council, which analyzes the state budget situation. In a recent report, the overall-state budget deficit will be above the coming years above the Maastricht upper limit, which also contains economic stability. From 2024, structural budget requirements are to come into force again, which are likely to be met.

This makes it clear that, despite a positive invoice, Vienna faces major economic challenges. The political discussion that will take place in the coming weeks could be crucial for how the city government will react to these challenges and what measures are taken to maintain the quality of life and social infrastructure.