The number of people being granted the red-white-red passport has been on the rise in 2024. A total of 21,891 people obtained Austrian citizenship in 2024 and as the data reveals, the number of new Austrian citizens has increased by 9.8 per cent compared to 2023.
According to Statistics Austria, the number of people obtaining Austrian citizenship due to having family relations with people who were politically persecuted reached 8,795, Schengen.News reports.
At more than 40 per cent of all naturalisations, a large proportion were for those politically persecuted by the Nazi regime and their descendants, with naturalisations increasing by 10.3 per cent compared to the previous year.
In addition, 99.9 per cent of 8,795 people naturalised in 2024 in this category, lived abroad compared to only 12 that live in Austria. The majority of these nationals live in Israel (5,088 or 23.2 per cent of all naturalised persons in 2024), the United States (1,894) and the United Kingdom (908).
Number of Residents Obtaining Austrian Citizenship Is Up by 9.6% in 2024
Naturalisations among those who are residents in Austria have increased by 9.6 per cent, which totals 13,036. In addition, one-fifth of naturalised persons in 2024 were born in Austria, accounting for 4,359 naturalisations or 20 per cent. Nearly half were women (49.2 per cent) and a third were under 18 years of age (33.5 per cent).
The provisional naturalisation rate for 2024, i.e. the ratio of naturalisations to the number of non-Austrian citizens living in Austria based on provisional population figures, is 0.7 per cent – the same as in 2023.
Syria is the main country of origin for nationals who obtained citizenship and were Austrian residents, representing 2,241 or 17.2 per cent of all naturalised persons residing in Austria in 2024. The second country was Türkiye (1,389 or 10.7 per cent), Afghanistan (1,056 or 8.1 per cent), Bosnia and Herzegovina (814) and Iran (653).
As per provinces with the most naturalisations, Upper Austria led the list with 2,525 naturalisations, up by nearly 40 per cent compared to the number of naturalised citizens compared to 2023. Styria and Salzburg follow with 1,564 and 614, respectively while fewer naturalisations were recorded in Vienna, recording six per cent and 1.7 per cent decreases, respectively.
