The total population in Austria peaked at 9.15 million in 2024, jumping by 0.6 per cent in a one-year period, Statistics Austria has revealed.
The same source reveals that the Austrian population grew less than it did in 2022 – 0.6 per cent compared to the 1.4 per cent increase recorded, but it rose slightly more compared to the preceding year (55,200 compared to 46,265 more people in 2021).
According to Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas, population growth is not as strong as it used to be, and the migration of Ukrainian nationals has impacted this trend.
After the immigration of Ukrainian nationals led to record growth of 1.4 per cent in 2022, the population increase in 2023 was much more moderate at +0.6 per cent.
Vienna Hits 2-Million Population Mark in 2023
The population growth was the strongest in Vienna, which by the end of the year was home to over two million residents (2,006,134), marking a 1.2 per cent increase.
Vorarlberg followed second with a share of 0.9 per cent new population, followed by Tyrol and Salzburg, each experiencing a 0.6 per cent population growth.
Increases were minor in other regions of the country, such as Upper Austria, Styria, and Lower Austria, while Carinthia recorded the smallest increase of 0.1 per cent in its population.
In 2023, Salzburg became the sixth-largest county, replacing Carinthia, with a difference of 0.29 per cent in inhabitants – having a total of 571,528 residents.
A previous report from Statistics Austria predicts that the population in Austria is expected to grow to 9.7 million by 2040, with immigration being the main factor contributing to this increase.
2 in 10 New Inhabitants Are Foreigners
Statistics Austria reveals that 19.7 per cent of the new population are foreigners, which indicates that two out of ten new residents are non-Austrian citizens, with this share increasing from 19 per cent recorded in January 2023.
The above-average shares of the foreign population were mainly concentrated in Vienna, where over one-third of the foreign population lives (35.4 per cent). In Vorarlberg, the second most populous region, foreigners represented 20.6 per cent of the new population, while they represented 20.3 per cent of the population in Salzburg.
The lowest shares were recorded in Carinthia (13.2 per cent), Lower Austria (12.2 per cent) and Burgenland (11.4 per cent).
