Religion in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

is predominantly

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

, adhered to by 68.2% of the country's population according to the 2021 national survey conducted by

Statistics Austria Statistics Austria, known locally as Statistik Austria, is the official name of Austria's Federal Statistical Office (), the country's agency for collecting and publishing official statistics related to Austria. In 2000 a bill (''federal law for s ...

. Among Christians, 80.9% were

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, 7.2% were Orthodox Christians (mostly belonging to the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

), 5.6% were

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, while the remaining 6.2% were other Christians, belonging to other denominations of the religion or not affiliated to any denomination. In the same census, 8.3% of the Austrians declared that their religion was

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

, 1.2% declared to believe in other non-Christian religions (including

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Hindusim Hinduism () is an umbrella term for a range of Indian religious and spiritual traditions ( ''sampradaya''s) that are unified by adherence to the concept of ''dharma'', a cosmic order maintained by its followers through rituals and right ...

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

and others), and 22.4% declared they did not belong to any religion, denomination or religious community. According to church membership data, in 2023 50.6% of the population were Catholics
Austrian church statistics
', katholisch.at and 2.7% adhered to Protestant churches. Austria was historically a strongly Catholic country, having been the centre of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

(1273–1918) which championed Catholicism. Although in the 16th century many Austrians converted to

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Lutheranism Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

in particular, as the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

(begun in 1517) was spreading across Europe, the Habsburgs enacted measures of

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

as early as 1527 and harshly repressed Austrian Protestantism, albeit a minority of Austrians remained Protestant. A few decades after the fall of the Habsburg monarchy at the end of the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and the transformation of Austria into a federal republic, at least since the 1970s there has been a decline of Christianity (with the exception of Orthodox churches) and a proliferation of other religions, a process which has been particularly pronounced in the capital state of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Between the censuses of 1971 and 2021, Christianity declined from 93.8% to 68.2% of the Austrian population (Catholicism from 87.4% to 55.2%, and Protestantism from 6% to 3.8%, while Orthodox Christianity grew from 2.2% to 4.9% between 2001 and 2021). During the same timespan,

grew from being the religion of 0.2% to 8.3% of the Austrian population, and the proportion of people neither affiliating with nor belonging to any religion grew from 4.3% to 22.4%.

Demographics

Census statistics, 1951–2021

Religion by federal state

History

The

spread from northern Germany to Austria. By the

Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...

in 1545, almost half of the Austrian population had converted to

, while a minority also endorsed

Calvinism Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyteri ...

. Eastern Austria was more affected by this phenomenon than western Austria. After 1545, Austria was recatholicized in the

Counter Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...

. The

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

imposed a strict regime to restore the influence of the Catholic Church among Austrians and their campaign proved successful. The Habsburgs for a long time viewed themselves as the vanguard of Catholicism, while all the other Christian confessions and religions were repressed. In 1775,

Maria Theresa Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

gave official permission to the Mechitarist Congregation of the

Armenian Catholic Church The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church. It accepts the papal supremacy, leadership of the bishop of Rome, and is therefore in full communion with ...

to settle in the Habsburg Empire. In 1781, in the era of Austrian enlightenment,

Emperor Joseph II Joseph II (13 March 1741 – 20 February 1790) was Holy Roman Emperor from 18 August 1765 and sole ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 29 November 1780 until his death. He was the eldest son of Empress Maria Theresa and her husband, Emperor F ...

issued a Patent of Tolerance for Austria that allowed other confessions a limited

freedom of worship Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

. Religious freedom was declared a constitutional right in Cisleithania after the Austro-Hungarian '' Ausgleich'' in 1867, thus paying tribute to the fact that the monarchy was home to numerous religions besides Catholicism such as Greek, Serbian, Romanian, Russian, and Bulgarian Orthodox Christians (Austria neighboured the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

for centuries), both

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

and

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

, and Jews. In 1912, after the annexation of Bosnia Hercegovina in 1908,

was officially recognised in Austria. The Austrian Jewish community of 1938—Vienna alone counted more than 200,000—was reduced to around 4,500 during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with about 65,000 Jewish Austrians killed in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and 130,000 emigrating. The large majority of the current Jewish population are post-war immigrants, particularly from eastern Europe and central Asia (including Bukharan Jews).

was legally recognised as a religion in Austria in 1983. Austria was greatly affected by the

, to a point where a significant part of the population became

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

was the most successful Protestant confession; that was the case among other German-speaking populations across the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and Austria was indeed one of them.

did not receive that much support. The prominent position of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

s in the

, however, saw Protestantism all but wiped out beginning in 1545, restoring Catholicism as the dominant religion once more. The significant Jewish population (around 200,000 in 1938), mainly residing in

, was reduced to just a couple of thousand through mass emigration in 1938 (more than 2/3 of the Jewish population emigrated from 1938 until 1941), and the following

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

during the Nazi period. Immigration in more recent years, primarily from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, has led to an increased number of Muslims and

Serbian Orthodox The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian churches. The majority of the populat ...

Christians. As in other European countries, there has been a growth of

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

movements in Austria in recent years.

Religions

Apollontempel am Hundstalsee Blick vom Steg auf Tempel

Christianity

Catholic Church

Catholicism is the largest religion in Austria, representing 57.9% of the total population in 2017. The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

's governing body in Austria is the Austrian Conference of Catholic Bishops, made up of the hierarchy of the two archbishops (Vienna, Salzburg), the bishops and the abbot of territorial abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau. Nevertheless, each bishop is independent in his own diocese, answerable only to the Pope. The current president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops is

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Christoph Schönborn Christoph Maria Michael Hugo Damian Peter Adalbert Schönborn, OP (; born 22 January 1945) is a Bohemian-born Austrian Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Vienna from 1995 until 2025. He was chairman of the Austrian Bishops' Conferen ...

, who belongs to the Central European noble family of Schönborn. Although Austria has no

primate Primates is an order (biology), order of mammals, which is further divided into the Strepsirrhini, strepsirrhines, which include lemurs, galagos, and Lorisidae, lorisids; and the Haplorhini, haplorhines, which include Tarsiiformes, tarsiers a ...

, the

archbishop of Salzburg The Archdiocese of Salzburg (; ) is a Latin Church, Latin rite archdiocese of the Catholic Church centered in Salzburg, Austria. It is also the principal diocese of the ecclesiastical province of Salzburg. The archdiocese is one of two Austrian ...

is titled ''Primus Germaniae'' ( Primate of Germany).

Orthodox Christianity

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

and

Oriental Orthodox The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysitism, Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian ...

churches grew over the last decades due to the coming of South Slavic immigrants from the

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

to Austria. The largest group of Eastern Orthodox in Austria are

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Southeastern Europe who share a common Serbian Cultural heritage, ancestry, Culture of Serbia, culture, History of Serbia, history, and Serbian lan ...

. The Vienna Institute of Demography of the

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

estimated in that there were 397,219 Eastern Orthodox Christians in Austria in 2016, representing the 4.6% of the total population.

Protestantism

The

spread from northern Germany to Austria. By the

in 1545, almost half of the Austrian population had converted to

, while a much smaller minority also endorsed

. Eastern Austria was more affected by this phenomenon than western Austria. After 1545, Austria was recatholicized in the

. The

imposed a strict regime to restore the influence of the Catholic Church among Austrians and their campaign proved successful; the Habsburgs for a long time viewed themselves as the vanguard of Catholicism, while all the other Christian confessions and religions were suppressed. Protestantism reached a peak percentage of 6.2% by 1951 for the first time in Austrian history since the success of the Counter-Reformation. Currently, it claims around 3.5% of the population. Austrian Protestants are overwhelmingly

(3.4%), with a small

Reformed Reform is beneficial change. Reform, reformed or reforming may also refer to: Media * ''Reform'' (album), a 2011 album by Jane Zhang * Reform (band), a Swedish jazz fusion group * ''Reform'' (magazine), a Christian magazine Places * Reform, Al ...

community (0.1%). New arriving Protestant churches are growing in membership, especially Evangelical Protestants and

Pentecostals Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God through baptism with the Holy Spirit. The term ''Pentecostal'' is derived ...

. A study from the Vienna Institute of Demography of the

found that there were an estimate of 412,423 Protestants of all types in Austria in 2016. The

Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria has about 300,000 (3.4%) members. The Reformed Church in Austria, a

body, has roughly 13,590 members. The

Mennonite World Conference The Mennonite World Conference (MWC) is an international Mennonite Anabaptist Christian denomination. Its headquarters are in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. History The first ''Mennonite World Conference'' was held in Basel in 1925. Its main purpos ...

counted a small Mennonite population in Austria. In 2022, there were 402

Mennonites Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

. The German Yearly Meeting of

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...

includes Quakers in both Germany and Austria and numbered less than 500 in 2017.

Islam

Due to immigration, especially from the

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, the number of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

s in Austria has grown exponentially over the latest decades, with an estimated number of Muslims of 686,599, or 7.9% of the total population as of 2016, up from 4.2% in 2001.WZ-Recherche 2016. Published in article:
Staat und Religion
. Wiener Zeitung, January 2016.

Buddhism

is a legally recognized religion in

and it is followed by thousands of people. Although still small in absolute numbers (10,402 at the 2001

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

), Buddhism enjoys widespread acceptance in Austria. A majority of Buddhists in the country are Austrian nationals (some of them naturalized after immigration from Asia, predominantly from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

), while a considerable number of them are foreign nationals. As in most

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an countries, different branches and schools of Buddhism are represented by groups of varying sizes.

not only has the largest number of foreign residents, but is also the place with the longest tradition of Buddhism in the country. Most of Austria's Buddhist temples and centres of practice can be found there; some with a specific Chinese, Vietnamese,

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

an or

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese appearance. The latest development has been the establishment of a "Buddhist cemetery" around a stupa-like building for funeral ceremonies at the

Vienna Central Cemetery The Vienna Central Cemetery () is one of the largest Cemetery, cemeteries in the world by number of interred, and is the most well-known among Vienna's nearly 50 cemeteries. The cemetery's name is descriptive of its significance as Vienna's big ...

Hinduism

Hinduism is a

minority religion A minority religion is a religion held by a Minority group, minority of the population of state or which is otherwise politically marginalized. Minority religions may be subject to Social stigma, stigma or discrimination. An example of a stigma is ...

in Austria, and according to the 2001 census, it was the religion of 3629 people. Since 1998, the 'Hindu Community in Austria' (HRÖ), the official representative of Hindus in Austria, has been able to call itself an 'Official registered confessional community', yet does not enjoy full legal recognition from the state.

Paganism

Austria has seen a growth of

movements in recent years, especially Druidic (''Druidentum''), but also Germanic Heathen (''Heidentum''),

Wicca Wicca (), also known as "The Craft", is a Modern paganism, modern pagan, syncretic, Earth religion, Earth-centred religion. Considered a new religious movement by Religious studies, scholars of religion, the path evolved from Western esote ...

n and

Neopagan witchcraft Neopagan witchcraft, sometimes referred to as The Craft, is an umbrella term for some neo-pagan traditions that include the practice of magic. They may also incorporate aspects of nature worship, divination, and herbalism. These traditions be ...

(''Hexentum'') groups. As of 2010 Austrian motorway authorities have been hiring Druids for geomantic works intended to reduce the number of accidents on the worst stretches of Austrian speedways.Motorway druids tackle road accidents
Austrian Times. Celtic Neopaganism and Neo-Druids are particularly popular in

, by virtue of Austria being the location of the proto-Celtic

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western Europe, Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallst ...

. The ''Keltendorf'' in

Diex Diex (; ) is a town in the district of Völkermarkt (district), Völkermarkt in Austrian state of Carinthia (state), Carinthia. It is known for its Gothic fortified church on a hilltop. Geography Diex lies in southeast Carinthia on the southern s ...

, Kärnten combines archaeological reconstruction with "European

geomancy Geomancy, a compound of Greek roots denoting "earth divination", was originally used to mean methods of divination that interpret geographic features, markings on the ground, or the patterns formed by soil, rock (geology), rocks, or sand. Its d ...

Demographics

Census statistics, 1951–2021

Religion by federal state

History

Religions

Christianity

Catholic Church

Orthodox Christianity

Protestantism

Islam

Buddhism

Hinduism

Paganism

Membership of churches

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading