Between January and September, 6,105 people who were descendants of politically persecuted individuals became Austrian citizens. About 99.8 per cent of them—6,094 who obtained their citizenship—live abroad.
However, as data from Statistics Austria reveals, the naturalisation of persons residing in Austria also showed an increase of 15.1 per cent or 9,691 people, Schengen.News reports.
Regardless, most of the new citizens in this category came from Israel – 3,608 or 22.8 per cent, followed by the United States (1,303 or 8.2 per cent) and the United Kingdom (548 or 3.5 per cent). Nearly half of these new citizens were women (48.9 per cent), and a third were minors (33.5 per cent).
15,824 People Became Austrian Citizens So Far in 2024
In the first three quarters of 2024, a total of 15,824 people became Austrian citizens. Nearly 6,133 or 38.8 per cent live abroad, while one-fifth (20.4 per cent) of the people naturalised during this period were born in Austria, accounting for a total of 3,227 people.
Nearly half of the naturalised citizens residing in Austria came from Syria, representing 1,699 naturalisations and 17.5 per cent of people in this category. Türkiye follows as the country of origin for 1,013 naturalised citizens or 10.5 per cent of the total, and Afghanistan is listed third, with 753 naturalisations, or 7.8 per cent share.
Around 608 new Austrian citizens (6.3 per cent) came from Bosnia and Herzegovina, while 5.2 per cent (500) came from Iran.
Statistics Austria reveals that naturalisations during this period were up by 43.4 per cent compared to 2023, increasing from 11,033 to 15,824.
Upper Austria Remains the Most Popular Destination for Newly Naturalised Citizens
The upper Austria region is the most affected by increases in naturalisations, with 1,869 new people residing there becoming Austrian citizens in 2024. That is up by 50.2 per cent compared to 2023, which is the highest difference recorded during this period.
Styria and Salzburg followed with increases of 40.4 per cent (1,271 more naturalised citizens) and 34.3 per cent (485), respectively, while decreases were reported in Vienna (-2.9 per cent) and Burgenland (-2.7 per cent).
Regardless, these two regions recorded 2,777 and 143 naturalisations in the first three quarters of the year.
Source: https://schengen.news/99-8-of-politically-persecuted-descendants-who-acquired-austrian-citizenship-in-2024-live-abroad/
