Year-on-year comparison

Fewer marriages in Salzburg, but more births

Statistics Austria published the trend from the previous year on Tuesday

(Bild: andranik123 - stock.adobe.com)

How did the population develop in 2023? The short summary for Salzburg: population growth was above average, births were above average. However, the number of marriages fell more sharply.

On January 1, 2024, there were 9,158,750 people living in Austria, 53,978 (plus 0.6 percent) more than a year earlier. In 2022, the population had grown by 125,843 people or 1.4%. Only the migration balance was positive, while the birth balance was strongly negative for the fourth year in a row: "In 2023, around 12,000 more people died than were born. This is the highest birth deficit since the end of the Second World War," said Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas.

The increase in population is solely due to immigration, as a total of 67,000 more people came into the country than emigrated. Vienna (1.2 percent) and Vorarlberg (0.9 percent) recorded the strongest growth. Salzburg and Tyrol (0.6) were also above the national average.

Lowest birth rate since 1945
At 1.32 children per woman, the birth rate was historically low. Vorarlberg (1.5) and Upper Austria (1.45) lead the way here, and Salzburg was also just above the average. The previous negative record holder was 2001 with 1.33 children per woman. From Salzburg's point of view, the overall lowest birth balance (balance of live births and deaths) since the Second World War was the same: Salzburg achieved the lowest figure of minus 52 (fewer births than deaths). Vienna achieved the highest plus with 823, Lower Austria the largest minus with 5,598.

This is the highest birth deficit since the end of the Second World War

Statistik-Austria-Generaldirektor Tobias Thomas

The number of people with non-Austrian nationality increased by almost 70,000 to 1.8 million people - 19.7 percent of the total population. Vienna has the highest percentage at 35.4 percent, followed by Vorarlberg (20.6) and Salzburg (20.3). However, net immigration in Salzburg was significantly lower than elsewhere.

Fewer marriages, but more than before corona
45,855 couples tied the knot in Austria in 2023. "Although this is 1,627 or 3.4% fewer than in the previous year, it is more than the average of 45,375 marriages per year in the pre-coronavirus years 2015 to 2019," says Statistics Austria Director General Tobias Thomas. 14,721 marriages were legally divorced, 724 (5.2%) more than in 2022, but a significant decrease compared to the five-year average of 16,215 before the pandemic.

In seven federal states, fewer marriages were concluded than in the previous year. The sharpest decline was recorded in Carinthia (minus seven percent), followed by Salzburg (minus 6.6 percent) and Styria (minus 5.6 percent). In 71.4 percent of weddings, it was the first marriage for both partners (2022: 71.1 percent). The average age of first marriage for men was 33.5 years and 31.5 years for women. 

Registered partnerships popular in the East
The number of registered partnerships rose significantly in seven federal states - all of them in the eastern and largest federal states, not in Salzburg. 31.5 percent of all registered partnerships were entered into by couples living in Vienna.

In eight federal states, more marriages were legally divorced. At 36.1 percent, the overall divorce rate was higher than in 2022 (34.5 percent). At 10.4 years, the average duration of divorced marriages was slightly below the previous year's level (10.6 years). Of these, 1.4 percent of divorces took place within the first year of marriage and a further 4.4 percent in the second year. Overall, almost half of all divorces involved marriages lasting less than ten years (48.2 percent). Around one in eight divorces took place after the silver wedding anniversary or after 25 years, including 56 couples who divorced after their golden wedding anniversary.