In 2022, over 2.35 million people with a migration background were residing in Austria, according to the latest data from Statistics Austria.
The same source also revealed that this figure marked an increase of about 540,000 more people, – a growth of 30 per cent compared to 2015, when 1.81 million foreign residents were living in Austria.
At the same time, the share of people who have both parents born abroad has now reached 26.4 per cent of the entire population.
“Since 2015, when there was a powerful refugee movement to Europe due to international crises, the proportion of the population with a migration background has risen from 21.4 per cent to 26.4 per cent,” Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas noted.
Germans Are the Main Group of Foreigners Living in Austria
Data provided by Statistics Austria also revealed that on January 1 of this year, among the 1,729,800 foreigners who had taken up residence in Austria, the most populous group consisted of 225,700 people from Germany, followed by 147,500 Romanians, 121,900 Serbians, and 119,700 Turkish citizens. Citizens from Croatia, Hungary, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Syria, Ukraine, and Poland were in the fifth to tenth positions.
Since 2015, there has also been an increase of 74,100 people with Romanian citizenship living in Austria, 71,000 with Ukrainian citizenship, 70,900 with Syrian citizenship, and 54,500 with German citizenship.
Based on the migration survey, nearly three-quarters, amounting to 74 per cent, of migrants experience a sense of belonging in Austria. This sentiment is strong among those born in the following countries:
- Afghanistan (78 per cent)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina (80 per cent)
- Syria (80 per cent)
- The Maghreb states (81 per cent)
On the other hand, immigrants coming from Ukraine show the lowest perceived affiliation with Austria at 54 per cent.
Further figures also show that as the length of their stay increases, there is a tendency towards a stronger sense of belonging to Austria. As a result, this increase is evidenced by the figures of 52 per cent for persons with a stay of one to less than five years, increasing to 73 per cent for those with a visit of five to 15 years, and reaching 78 per cent for those who have resided in Austria for more than 15 years.
Higher Share of People in Austria Consider Living Together With Foreigners as “Very Bad”
In 2023, over 28 per cent of Austrian-born people believe that living together with migrants is either “fairly good” or “very good”. Meanwhile, 34 per cent consider such a cohabitation as “quite bad” or “very bad”. This represents an increase compared to the previous year when 25 per cent of Austrian-born persons expressed criticism of living together with immigrants.
On the other hand, 61 per cent rated coexistence as “rather good” or “very good”. As Statistics Austria pointed out, this figure marks an improvement from the figures of 2022, when 56 per cent of migrants positively noticed such living together.
Moreover, this year’s migration survey revealed that among the migrants surveyed, 13 per cent reported that communication mainly occurs in Germany within their homes. A larger part, accounting for 51 per cent, primarily communicates at home using the language of origin.
As for the people born in the Maghreb countries of North Africa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Serbia, they are more likely to consider their German language skills to be at least good.
