Almost three-quarters of households from the main refugee-origin countries living in Vienna have been unable to cover their living costs without state support, according to a new official analysis. The finding has revived a debate that flared earlier this year, when ministry calculations suggested asylum-seeker families in the capital could receive close to €50,000 a year in benefits.
The study was carried out by the national statistics agency, Statistik Austria, for the integration ministry. It examined about 103,000 households with at least one recognised refugee, person granted subsidiary protection or asylum seeker, drawn from the six most common countries of origin: Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Chechnya and Somalia.
The measure used was self-sufficiency, or the ability to meet living costs through earnings, a pension or unemployment and sickness benefits without drawing on further social assistance.
Across Austria, about 47 per cent of these households were found unable to support themselves through work or other income. In Vienna the share climbed to roughly 72 per cent, comfortably the highest of any province.
By comparison, households without immigrants were self-supporting in 90 to 93 per cent of cases across the provinces, and in about 86 per cent of cases in Vienna. The analysis did not count family allowance, which is paid regardless of income.
Austrian integration minister Claudia Bauer said the welfare system should help people stand on their own feet as quickly as possible. She argued that lasting dependence on benefits must not become an incentive, and described work as the key to integration.
Bauer said those who declined to make an effort to integrate would face noticeable cuts to their support. The Austrian Government has said it would bring in an integration obligations law requiring migrants to learn German and to respect the country’s values.
Vienna has already removed access to its minimum-income scheme for people with subsidiary protection. After that change, the number of unemployed subsidiary-protection holders in the city fell by 36 per cent between May 2025 and May of this year, according to labour market figures.
The city government, run by the Social Democrats, has previously rejected the idea that Vienna acts as a magnet for welfare. The latest figures are likely to sharpen the dispute as the coalition prepares its integration legislation.
