The number of recorded hate crimes in Austria rose significantly last year. According to the 2024 Hate Crime Report, police registered 6,786 bias-motivated offenses—about 20% more than in 2023 (5,668). The most common motive was again “ideology,” which also saw the biggest increase at 45%. This motive was documented 3,935 times in 2024. The clearance rate for hate crimes remained stable at around 67%.
In total, 7,614 prejudice-related motives were documented in 2024, as one offense can have multiple motives. After ideology, the most frequent motives were national or ethnic origin (1,581), religion (763), skin color (417), and sexual orientation (317). Motives related to sexual orientation dropped by 29% compared to 2023. Other recorded motives included gender (238), social status (136), disability (125), and age (102).
Ban law violations most common offense
The most frequent hate crime offenses were violations of Austria’s prohibition law (2,952), followed by property damage (1,396), bodily harm (661), incitement to hatred (599), and dangerous threats (506). A total of 1,619 people—63% of them men—were victims of violent hate crimes, mostly based on national or ethnic origin.
As in previous years, minors were overrepresented among suspects. 86% of the suspects were men, more than the share of men in overall criminal offenses (78%). The proportion of foreign suspects in hate crimes (26%) was significantly lower than in general crime (47%). For example, in 3 out of 5 misogynistic offenses, the suspect was Austrian. Only in cases of age- and anti-Muslim hatred was the number of Austrian and foreign suspects nearly equal.
Quarter of hate crimes committed online
Relative to population size, the highest number of hate crime motives was recorded in Salzburg, Vienna, and Carinthia, and the lowest in Burgenland. A quarter of the cases took place in public spaces and about 7% in private. Private settings dominated in misogynistic crimes. Anti-trans motives were mostly committed in public and often involved bodily harm, threats, or property damage. Anti-intersex motives were primarily incitement to hatred.
The internet was the most frequent crime scene, with nearly 2,000 recorded motives. Three-quarters of those involved violations of the prohibition law. Half of all racist motives were found online. Two-thirds of religious hate posts were antisemitic, and one-third were anti-Muslim.
“The recent cases involving the network uncovered in March 2025 show how quickly hate speech can escalate into real violence,” warned Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) in the report’s foreword. During the police operation, several individuals were arrested for allegedly robbing, injuring, and humiliating victims they falsely accused of pedophilia due to their homosexuality. Karner also noted the positive impact of long-term police training and systematic investigative and preventive efforts. According to the report, homophobic motives are the most frequently recorded and—similar to biphobia—involve bodily harm in over one-quarter of the cases.
Hate crimes have been recorded separately since 2020, and annual reports have been published since 2022. The data includes only offenses where police investigations have been concluded.
