In 2025, Austria recorded a historic low in the average number of children per woman. According to preliminary data, 75,718 children were born alive.
The average number of children per woman fell to 1.29 last year, marking another historic low in Austria. According to preliminary figures, 75,718 children were born alive, 2.0 percent fewer than in 2024. This is shown in the 2025 birth balance published Wednesday by Statistik Austria. A total of 86,766 people died, 1.9 percent fewer than in 2024. Life expectancy at birth rose by 0.3 years, reaching 80.2 years for men and 84.6 years for women.
Negative Birth Balance
According to the figures, 11,048 more people died than were born. “In 2025, Austria recorded more deaths than births for the sixth consecutive year,” reported Manuela Lenk, Director General for Statistics at Statistik Austria. “The number of newborns was last lower in 2001, when the total population was more than one million smaller than in 2025,” she explained in a statement. With an average of 1.29 children per woman, the previous record low of 1.31 in 2024 has already been undershot.
Compared with the final results for 2024, seven provinces recorded a decline in live births. The sharpest decreases were in Burgenland (minus 5.4 percent) and Vorarlberg (minus 4.2 percent), followed by Upper Austria (minus 3.4 percent) as well as Tyrol and Styria (each minus 3.0 percent). The smallest declines were in Lower Austria (minus 1.8 percent) and Vienna (minus 0.9 percent). Salzburg recorded an increase of 1.8 percent and Carinthia an increase of 0.6 percent, marking a rise in births in those provinces.
Preliminary figures for deaths in 2025 were lower than the previous year in six provinces. The largest declines were in Vienna (minus 5.7 percent) and Salzburg (minus 5.1 percent), and the smallest in Upper Austria (minus 1.0 percent). In Styria (plus 1.3 percent), Tyrol (plus 0.9 percent), and Carinthia (plus 0.6 percent), more deaths were registered in 2025 than in the year before.
Positive Birth Balance in Vienna
The preliminary balance of live births and deaths was positive in three provinces, most notably in Vienna with a surplus of 2,950, followed by Vorarlberg with plus 240 and Salzburg with plus 31. In the other six provinces, there were fewer newborns than deaths, particularly in Lower Austria (minus 5,354), Styria (minus 3,781), and Carinthia (minus 2,249).
The preliminary number of deaths in the first year of life was 235, resulting in an infant mortality rate of 3.1 per 1,000 live births. Statistik Austria noted that additional reports are still expected for both births and deaths, as the data are preliminary.
