Demographic indicators

The fact that the period fertility is so low in Austria is due also to the ever rising age at childbirth (“delay” in births). The average fertility age in 2008 for instance was 29.5 years, i.e. 1.5 years higher than in 1998. This fertility age has been rising steadily since the mid-1970s; detailed studies show that a mother’s age at the birth of her first child has risen above average.

Of the 77 752 live births recorded in 2008, 30 202 were born out of wedlock, the rate of illegitimate births was therefore 38.8 per cent (for first births it was 51.1 per cent). The rate of illegitimate births has risen by 9.3 percentage points since 1998, from 29.5 per cent. It is not known how many of the unmarried mothers live in a consensual union; past data would seem to indicate that the parents of around 40-50% of all children born out of wedlock will eventually marry.

Mortality and life expectancy (incl. infant mortality)

Life expectancy continues to rise (77.6 years for men, 83.0 years for women); infant mortality again below 4 per thousand

75 083 deaths were recorded in Austria in 2008, which corresponds to a crude death rate of 9.0 deaths per 1 000 population. In 1998 the crude death rate had been as high as 9.8 per 1 000 population; in the 1960s it was as high as 13 per 1 000 population.

In 2008 the life expectancy of an Austrian male at birth was 77.6 years, i.e. 3.2 years longer than in 1998. The life expectancy at birth for women has risen by 2.1 years since 1998, to a current figure of 83.0 years. The difference between female and male life expectancy has diminished since its highest level in 1982 (then 7.2 years), but it is still 5.4 years.

Initially the increase in life expectancy over the past 100 years was achieved first and foremost through a drop in infant and childhood mortality; in recent decades the decrease in old-age mortality has contributed increasingly towards the rise in life expectancy. In 2008 the remaining life expectancy of a 60-year-old male in Austria was 21.3 years (1998: 19.1 years); for a 60-year-old woman, the figure was 25.1 years (1998: 23.5 years).

Infant mortality rate – infant deaths per 1 000 live births – was 3.7 per thousand in Austria in 2008. Since 1997 this figure has always been below the 5-per-thousand mark; since 2006 also below the 4-per-thousand mark. A detailed analysis shows that infant mortality is higher for male newborn children than for female newborns, and that legitimate newborn children have a lower infant mortality than live births outside of wedlock.

Marriages and divorces

Marriage rate reaches all-time low; total divorce rate equals 49%

35 223 marriages were celebrated in Austria in 2008, i.e. 4.2 marriages per 1 000 population. This crude marriage rate is the lowest ever recorded in Austria; by comparison, in Austria in the 1960s there were around 8 marriages per annum per 1 000 population.

The proportion of first marriages, i.e. marriages in which both the bride and groom are single, was 64.6% in Austria in 2008. This figure has seen only little variability the last years. The median age at the time of first marriage in 2008 was 31.7 years for males (an increase of 2.5 years compared with the 1998 figure) and 28.9 years for females (an increase of 2.1 years since 1998).

It should be noted that individual registry statistics cover only those marriages that occur in Austria. Marriages abroad (which presumably have a greater effect on resident people with a migration background) are not included in the data.

In 2008, 19 701 divorces were recorded in Austria, corresponding to 2.4 divorces per 1 000 population. The median duration of marriage for those that were divorced in 2008 was 9.6 years.

The total divorce rate in Austria in 2008 was 47.8%. This measure is calculated as the sum of the single-year duration-specific divorce rates in the reference year. It is therefore not a probability of divorce, but an approximation that is useful particularly for comparisons over time.

Please consult our German website for tables and charts containing further information.