According to current projections, Austria’s population will continue to grow until 2037, when it will reach its peak of 9.37 million people. Following its peak, the population will slowly decline to 8.65 million in 2095, after which a small increase is expected again. Austria’s population is projected to end the century with about 8.67 million people.
Austria’s current population growth rate is a slow 0.52%. With a low fertility rate of 1.53 births per woman that is expected to continue decreasing in the coming years, the population growth rate will slow as well. The average age of Austria’s population will significantly increase over the next decades from 43.5 years (2020) to 47.0 years (2060).
Austria Population Growth
Across the entire country, the majority of the population increase recorded between 2001 and 2011 is as a result of immigration into Austria - the number of people living in Austria but born elsewhere increased by 35% over the past decade. Austria estimates that 81% of its population had no migration background, while about 19% had at least one parent of migrant background. There are estimated to be 415,000 descendants of foreign-born immigrants in the country.
According to law, bilingual signs should be used in areas of the country populated by Austria's "traditional" ethnic minorities (Carinthian Slovenes plus Croats and Hungarians in Burgenland). This law has not always been followed in practice, however, and remains a significant political hot topic.
Austria Population Projections
The barely-there growth that Austria has seen throughout its history is not expected to change much in the coming years. The number of citizens is expected to start declining very slowly by 2040. Current projections believe that the population of Austria will be 8,782,210 by 2020, 8,945,882 by 2030, 8,962,110 by 2040 and 8,877,857 by 2050.