Austria reports 32% of kindergarten children have non-German first language

A recent monitoring report on elementary education for 2025/2026 from Statistik Austria reveals that approximately 32.1 percent of children aged three to five in Austrian kindergartens do not have German as their first language. The figures vary significantly by region, with Vienna recording the highest rate at 60 percent, followed by Vorarlberg at 28.9 percent and Upper Austria at 26.8 percent.

Family Minister Claudia Bauer has called on parents, particularly mothers in immigrant families, to prioritize learning German to break a perceived cycle of language barriers. She highlighted the Integration Obligation Act and planned social assistance reforms as tools to facilitate language courses.

The report also notes high attendance rates in early education, with nearly 95 percent of children aged three to five being cared for in such institutions. Attendance increases sharply with age, rising from 3.6 percent for infants under one year to 98.1 percent for five-year-olds.