Austria's population grows by 6.7% in decade, with average age of 43.2 years

GENEVA

Austria's population has grown 6.7% in a decade, primarily due to immigration, but it is aging, with an average age of 43.2 years, according to data from a 2021 census released on Monday by the government’s statistical office.

The population increased by 6.7% between 2011 and 2021, from 8.4 million to 8,969,068 people as of the Oct. 31, 2021 census data, Statistics Austria said.

On the same date in 2021, the average population age was 43.2 years, up from 41.8 years in 2011. The proportion of people over the age of 65 increased from 15.2% in 2011 to 19.4% in 2021. The share of 15- to 64-year-olds, on the other hand, decreases from 69.4% to 66.2%, the Census data shows.

The number of children under the age of 15 fell from 15.4% to 14.4%.

"The trend of a growing and aging population in Austria will continue in the coming years," writes Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas on the institute's website.

In 2021, the percentage of Austrians with a birthplace outside Austria was 20.4% (1.83 million), but those born abroad made up 24.8% of the working-age population (aged 15 to 64). In 2011, the figure was 18.6%.

The trend toward smaller households is also continuing in Austria. Whereas 46.7% of households had only one or two people in 1961, this figure had risen to 68.7% by 2021.

The share of one-person households has almost doubled from 19.7% in 1961 to 38.3% in 2021.