Austria experienced a remarkable surge in population growth in 2022, reaching a record level since the post-war era. The country's statistics agency attributes this

increase solely to immigration.

Last year, Austria saw a net influx of 126,000 people, a significant rise compared to the previous year when 46,000 individuals settled in the country. Without the inflow of immigrants, including refugees, Austria's population would have experienced a decline.

Statistics Austria, the official agency responsible for data collection, highlights that more than half of the net increase was accounted for by the 67,000 refugees who sought shelter in Austria following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022.

Among the refugees, Ukrainians constituted the largest group, while Syrians comprised the second-largest group with 14,000 individuals. Additionally, approximately 9,000 Germans relocated to Austria, forming the largest portion of the net 36,000 people arriving from other EEA countries, Switzerland, or the UK in 2022. Another 2,700 individuals migrated from Turkey.

The immigration influx offset Austria's demographic decline, as last year approximately 82,600 individuals were born in the country, which was around 10,000 fewer than the number of deaths. Hence, immigration played a crucial role in Austria's population growth throughout 2022.

Out of the total population of 9 million people, approximately 1.7 million do not possess Austrian citizenship.

Vienna experienced the most significant population increase, with 50,000 new residents in the past year, and it is projected to surpass the 2 million mark either this year or the next. Lower Austria and Upper Austria followed with approximately 20,000 and 18,000 new residents, respectively, while Styria welcomed an additional 17,000 individuals. Photo by Xell, Wikimedia commons.