Appartenance religieuse selon le recensement de 2021

In 2021, Statistics Austria conducted a voluntary survey on religious affiliation on behalf of the Federal Chancellery. 6.9 million people in Austria - that is 77.6 % of the population - profess a religion, around 2.0 million (22.4 %) do not feel they belong to any religious community. Around 6.1 million persons in Austria declared their faith in Christianity in 2021. This corresponds to a share of around 68.2% of the total population. 4.9 million people (55% of the total of the population) were members of the Roman Catholic Church in 2021, around 340,300 people or 3.8 % were Protestant (A.B. and H.B.). 436,700 people, or 4.9 % of the population, were members of the Orthodox Church. 745,600 people (8.3% of the population) felt they belonged to Islam, 26,600 (0.3%) to Buddhism and 10,100 (0.1%) to Hinduism.
The proportion of people who did not feel they belonged to any religious community in 2021 was Vienna (34.1%), followed by Styria (22.6%) and Lower Austria (20.5%). Lower Austria (20.5%), Carinthia (16.5%) and Burgenland (16.8%) had the lowest percentage of people without a religious affiliation.

In 1951, almost 90 % of the population were members of the Roman Catholic Church. By 2021 there was a decline of 34 percent points. While the number of people of Protestant and Old Catholic faiths also declined significantly during this period, there was a significant increase in the number of members of the Orthodox churches and Islam. Whereas in 1971 (earlier data are not available), only 22,300 people (0.3% of the population) professed the Islamic faith, by 2021 this figure had risen by around 720,000. The number of Orthodox believers in Austria has increased in the past 20 years from 179,500 in 2001 (first data point) to 436,700 by 2021.

Sources and further information : Statistics Austria 2022 : Religious denomination.