Fertility in Austria: Past, Present and the Near Future
Journal: Vienna Yearbook of Population Research
Volume: 2004, pages 35-56
Publisher: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
DOI: 10.1553/populationyearbook2004s35
Tomas Frejka (1) and Jean-Paul Sardon (2) with the assistance of Alain Confesson (3)
(1) International consultant. (Author for correspondence, Email: tfrejka@aol.com)
(2) Institut national d’études démographiques (INED), Paris, France.
(3) Institut national d’études démographiques (INED), Paris, France.
Abstract
In the European context, Austria’s population has a tradition of low fertility. Already between the world wars of the 20th century Austria had the lowest fertility in Europe. It recovered unevenly in the 1940s and most notably during the 1950s and early 1960s, but has been declining ever since. Early in the 21st century Austria again had one of the lowest fertility rates amongWestern countries. Around the turn of the century the rate of natural increase was zero. Contemporary childbearing trends and patterns imply that fertility is likely to remain very lowand likely to decline further in the foreseeable future. Unless this trend will be reversed, Austria’s population will start to decline in size and its population will age rapidly. Immigration could somewhat mitigate these developments.