High proportion in Vienna

Significantly more foreign schoolchildren in cities

22 percent of school-age children do not have Austrian citizenship. The proportion of foreign pupils is higher in urban centers.

(Bild: pololia - stock.adobe.com)

There are over 890,000 school-age children in Austria. More than 194,000 of them (22 percent) do not have Austrian citizenship, according to data from Statistics Austria. With a share of 39 percent or over 77,200 children, Vienna is far and away in the lead, followed by Salzburg, Vorarlberg and Upper Austria. The urban centers, such as the provincial capitals, differ significantly from the average of the respective provinces. 

Salzburg and Vorarlberg barely come close to Vienna with shares of over 19 percent of foreign children between the ages of six and 15. The same applies to Upper Austria with 18 percent. In Burgenland and Tyrol, the proportion is just over 16 percent, in Carinthia it is around 15 percent. It is lowest in Lower Austria at 14 percent.

Wels on a par with Vienna
However, there are also cities in the respective federal states that are well above these figures. For example, the provincial capitals of Linz and Graz, with 36% and 34% respectively, have a significantly higher proportion than their respective provinces and are therefore roughly on a par with Vienna.

The contrast between the Upper Austrian average and the second largest city in the province is also particularly stark: in Wels, around 2,600 of the 6,500 children between the ages of six and 15 do not have Austrian citizenship. This corresponds to four out of ten children and is therefore on a par with Vienna. If only third-country nationals are considered (i.e. excluding EU and EEA countries), the proportion is still 23 percent.

Nationality says nothing about language skills
It is important to mention here that nationality does not necessarily say anything about language skills or any language problems. There are also pupils who are Austrian citizens but have a different first language.

In five districts of Vienna, the proportion of children from third countries between the ages of six and 15 is over 30 percent. If one looks at the total proportion of children with non-Austrian citizenship, individual districts reach over 50 percent (Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus, Margareten) or 40 percent (e.g. Brigittenau, Favoriten, Ottakring).

Compared to the total number of foreign citizens, the number in the younger age group is generally higher. This is according to population data from Statistics Austria from April 2024. The influx of schoolchildren via family reunification has recently come to a political head. When asked by the APA, the federal states themselves were unable or unwilling to provide any concrete figures.

Ukrainian pupils in wealthier districts of Vienna
However, the population data at least shows a significant increase in the number of Ukrainian citizens since the outbreak of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022. On 1 April, there were 13,000 Ukrainian children of school age across Austria, more than 4,700 in the federal capital alone. With a share of 1.5 percent, these children are once again above the general share (0.9 percent).

Interestingly, Ukrainian schoolchildren in Vienna tend to be found in more affluent districts such as the Innere Stadt, Neubau and Wieden. The situation is different for children with Syrian or Afghan citizenship. These are more likely to be found in districts where the general proportion of third-country nationals is already high, such as Favoriten, Ottakring and Margareten.

More children from third countries
Since 2015, the proportion of children from third countries in Austria has generally risen significantly. Nine years ago, around 7.5 percent came from non-EU countries; this April, the figure was over twelve percent. The general proportion of all age groups is around nine percent; an increase of around three percentage points since 2015.

The Viennese districts of Margareten (up almost 15 percentage points), Meidling and Floridsdorf (both around 13) recorded particularly strong growth among six to 15-year-olds. These are all districts where the proportion was already at a high level.

This high proportion of children with foreign citizenship also coincides with the Viennese districts where, according to the City of Vienna, many children have German language problems. These exceptional pupils are those who are unable to follow lessons.

An inquiry by the Vienna ÖVP at the beginning of the year showed that Margareten (68 percent), Ottakring and Brigittenau (57 percent each), Favoriten (54 percent) and Meidling (51 percent) are the districts where the proportion of schoolchildren with language problems is particularly high. However, the figures from the survey are from 2022.