Between January and September 2024, a total of 6,105 individuals, descendants of politically persecuted people, became Austrian citizens. Of these, 99.8% (6,094) live abroad.
Data from Statistics Austria also reveals that the naturalisation of residents in Austria rose by 15.1%, with 9,691 people gaining citizenship during the same period, as reported by Schengen.News.
The majority of the new citizens in this category came from Israel, with 3,608 people (22.8%), followed by the United States (1,303 or 8.2%) and the United Kingdom (548 or 3.5%). Nearly half of the new citizens were women (48.9%), and a third were minors (33.5%).
15,824 People Became Austrian Citizens in 2024
In total, 15,824 people gained Austrian citizenship in the first three quarters of 2024. Of these, 6,133 (38.8%) live abroad, while 3,227 (20.4%) were born in Austria.
The largest group of new citizens residing in Austria came from Syria, with 1,699 naturalisations, making up 17.5% of the total. Türkiye followed with 1,013 new citizens (10.5%), and Afghanistan ranked third with 753 (7.8%). Other significant groups included Bosnia and Herzegovina (608 or 6.3%) and Iran (500 or 5.2%).
Naturalisation rates in 2024 were up 43.4% compared to 2023, rising from 11,033 to 15,824.
Upper Austria Sees Largest Increase in Naturalisation
Upper Austria saw the largest increase in naturalisations, with 1,869 new citizens in 2024, a 50.2% rise compared to 2023. This was the highest increase recorded during this period.
Styria and Salzburg followed, with increases of 40.4% (1,271 more naturalised citizens) and 34.3% (485), respectively. However, Vienna and Burgenland reported decreases in naturalisations, with a 2.9% drop in Vienna and a 2.7% decrease in Burgenland.
Despite the declines, Vienna and Burgenland still recorded a total of 2,777 and 143 naturalisations, respectively, in the first three quarters of the year.
