What languages are spoken in Vienna, Austria besides German? Quick questions and answers

German is Austria’s official national language as this sign — “Keep the entrance clear day and night” suggests

While the vast majority of people living in Vienna, Austria speak German — well, it is the country’s official language — there are other languages spoken as well.

That is because, not only do some native-born Austrians have foreign-born parents and so grew up speaking at least two languages, but almost 20 percent of the people living in Austria were born abroad, while 36 percent of those living in Vienna were born overseas.

That means, while German is Austria’s official language, just walking around on any street in Vienna you will likely hear other languages being spoken as well.

What languages are spoken in Vienna, Austria besides German, as well as in Austria as a whole?

While the official stats from the Austrian government are not broken down into region (a similar percentage for each language is likely in Vienna as in the country as a whole), according to the CIA’s World Factbook — which tends to be one of the most accurate resources around — these are the languages spoken in Austria:

German — 88.6 percent of the population

Turkish — 2.3 percent

Serbian — 2.2 percent

Croatian — 1.6 percent (also an official minority language in Burgenland, where around 20,000 people speak it)

Other languages (including Slovene and Hungarian) — 5.3 percent

English is also taught in Austrian schools as the first foreign language and, according to a recent report published by the Swedish company EF English First, Austria comes in at #2 out of 112 countries in the country’s English language proficiency.

That means the vast majority of Austrians also speak English as well as German.

So now you know what languages are spoken in Vienna, Austria besides German.

About Michelle Topham

I'm a journalist, and the founder of Oh My Vienna. I have been living in Vienna since 2016 as an immigrant, because 'expat' is just a fancy word that means exactly that.