Integration and diversity monitoring - facts and figures on migration, integration and diversity in Vienna

The Vienna Integration and Diversity Monitor 2023 presents facts and figures on migration, integration and diversity in Vienna on more than 200 pages.

Integration and Diversity Monitor 2023

Since 2007, the City of Vienna has used integration and diversity monitoring to put a spotlight on the changes in Vienna’s immigration society.

The 6th Vienna Integration and Diversity Monitor 2023 offers insights into eight themes and areas related to integration and diversity: demographics and immigration law, equality and participation, education, employment and labour market, income and social security, health, housing, and living together. In addition to the level of integration of the migrant population in Vienna, the Monitor also outlines the level of diversity in the Vienna City Administration. The additional staff survey shows the development of diversity of City Administration staff.

The results of the Monitor provide a basis for the public debate on migration, integration and diversity in Vienna.

Download and order

Printed copies can be ordered via the ordering service of the City of Vienna (Bestellservice der Stadt Wien). Older issues of the Integration and Diversity Monitor of the City of Vienna, from 2010 onwards, are available in the digital collections of the Vienna City Library at Wienbibliothek Digital.

Integration Monitor

Integration refers to the establishment of equal opportunities and equal treatment as well as equal possibilities of participation in city life for all Viennese. All residents of Vienna should have equal access to high-quality education, good jobs, a living income and appropriate housing. To facilitate an equal and participatory city for all, it is important to identify whether there are any disadvantages for specific groups of people or not.

Equal opportunities and equal rights are the guiding principles underlying the integration monitoring process. All of Vienna’s residents should have equal access to high-quality education, good jobs, a living income and affordable housing. Therefore, we aim to find out whether having a migrant background or having been educated abroad makes a difference to a person’s place in society.

A younger city due to immigration

Vienna is now the fifth largest city in the EU due to immigration and a positive birth rate. At the beginning of 2023, about 34 percent of Vienna’s residents were foreign citizens and about 39 percent were born abroad, slightly more than 44 percent were of foreign origin (i.e. they either held foreign citizenship or were born abroad) and about 50 percent had a migration background (i.e. both parents were born abroad). Vienna has the youngest population of all federal provinces in Austria due to the younger average age of the immigrant population.

More information: Integration Monitor - demographics & immigration law (German)

Education

New migrants have higher levels of education than previous cohorts of migrants did. Intergenerational educational mobility has been remarkable, in particular among Viennese residents with a migration background from non-EU-countries. The share of persons with low education has been reduced by more than half from one generation of third-country migrants to the next.

More information: Integration Monitor - education (German)

Naturalisation and democratic deficit

Vienna’s naturalisation rate is very low, at 0.7 percent. Austria’s restrictive naturalisation rules and the fact that voting rights are tied to citizenship create an increasingly alarming democratic deficit: at the beginning of 2023, 33.4 percent of Vienna’s population above voting age (16 years) were not allowed to vote in local, regional or national elections in 2023. Public opinion on naturalisation and voting rights is much more liberal than current legal regulations.

More information: Integration Monitor – equality & participation (German)

Employment and occupational downgrading

People with a migration background are particularly affected by occupational downgrading. Viennese with intermediate and higher foreign education and a third-country migration background are affected by occupational downgrading nine times more frequently than Viennese without a migration background. Almost half of all Viennese with a third-country migration background are affected by unsocial working hours such as night work or shift work.

More information: Integration Monitor – employment & labour market (German)

Income

Viennese with a third-country migration background earn up to 1,000 Euro less than Viennese without a migration background do despite having the same level of education. In women with university entrance qualifications as the highest level attained, the income difference between women without a migration background and women with foreign educational qualifications and a third-country migration background amounts to about 800 Euro. For men, the income difference is about 1,000 Euro. In women with a university degree as the highest level of educational attainment, the income difference between women without a migration background and women with foreign educational qualifications and a third-country migration background is about 500 Euro. For men, the income difference is about 700 Euro.

More information: Integration Monitor – income & social security (German)

Living together

The majority of Vienna’s residents rates the living together of migrants and non-migrants as very positive, particularly within their own neighbourhoods and in the districts. The survey shows that residents, who have more contact with migrants, in particular in their immediate neighbourhood, rate living together as more positive. Residents, who do not have a lot of contact with migrants and who get their experience from the media or political debate, tend to rate living together as more negative.

More information: Integration Monitor – living together (German)

Diversity Monitor

The Diversity Monitor shows how the Vienna City Administration handles the increased diversity of its population. Have the City's services and facilities been adapted to address the diverse needs of its residents? How has diversity management been implemented in the departments of the City Administration and to what extent do the cultural backgrounds of the City Administration’s staff reflect Vienna’s population (survey of diversity among the staff of the City of Vienna)?

Promoting diversity management across the Vienna City Administration

Implementing diversity-oriented policies has become an integral part of the activities of the Vienna City Administration. The results of the 6th Diversity Monitor reveal that the value and use of professional diversity management is highly appreciated by a growing number of institutions and organisations. In 2022, 68 institutions and organisations of the City of Vienna have participated in the survey (compared to 53 in 2019).

Language skills of City Administration staff

The fact that City Administration staff speak many of the main foreign languages spoken in Vienna largely reflects the diversity of the city's society. These language skills are often used to provide information and advice to customers and help improve the City of Vienna's range of services.

Survey of diversity among the Vienna City Administration staff

The level of diversity among City Administration staff was first surveyed in 2013. The present survey (as at 30 June 2022) is the fourth one that depicts the current situation and shows the developments measured as part of the monitoring process. In addition to an overview of the staff who live in Vienna by age, gender and background, it also offers information on their representation across occupation groups and employment categories as well as in certain professions.

  • In 2022, 11.4 percent of City Administration staff with a primary residence in Vienna were foreign nationals (2019: 9.2 percent, 2016: 7.8 percent, 2013: 6.0 percent).
  • 26.6 percent of City Administration staff were of foreign origin (2019: 25.6 percent, 2016: 25.1 percent, 2013: 24.5 percent). The share of City Administration staff from third countries and from Austria has decreased since the last survey. The share of City Administration staff from EU/EFTA countries has increased.
  • The percentages of women and men employed in the City Administration were as follows: 67.3 percent women and 32.7 percent men.

Further information

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City of Vienna | Intergration and Diversity
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