Muslim Students Outnumber Christians in Vienna’s Compulsory Schools, Making Up 42%

Austria, and Vienna in particular, are entering a new demographic chapter that is visibly changing the country’s schools. Data from the Austrian Integration Fund, released ahead of the new school year, show that 20.9% of pupils in compulsory education held foreign citizenship, while 26% spoke a language other than German at home.

Across Austria, 1,142,462 students attended compulsory schools in the 2024/25 school year, 11,526 more than a year earlier. The increase came almost entirely from pupils with foreign citizenship, whose number rose by 11,949, while the number of Austrian citizens fell by 423. Foreign nationals now account for 238,504 pupils, more than double the 9.2% recorded in 2006/07.

Vienna presents a markedly different picture. In the capital’s primary, secondary, special and polytechnic schools, which had 114,000 compulsory-school students in 2025/26, Muslim pupils made up 42%. Christians accounted for 33.3%, including 17.7% Roman Catholics and 14.4% Orthodox Christians. Another 23.2% had no religious affiliation or belonged to smaller religious communities, while Jewish pupils represented 0.1%.

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Islam already dominates in Vienna’s schools

The share of Muslim pupils was even higher in Vienna’s secondary, special and vocational schools, reaching 49%, while polytechnic schools recorded 47%. Austrian newspapers highlighted the figures with sharply worded headlines. Kronen Zeitung wrote that “Islam already dominates in Vienna’s schools,” while Österreich reported that 74% of students did not speak German at home.

Nationality figures also vary widely across Vienna. Students without Austrian citizenship accounted for about 22% in the central first district, compared with 74% in Favoriten, the 10th district. Outside Vienna, the proportions were lower but rising. Foreign citizens made up 14% of pupils in Carinthia and 16.7% in Styria, according to the report.

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74 percent of students do not speak German at home