According to the definition of ICOM (International Council of Museums), a museum is a non-profit, permanent institution in the service of society and its development, open to the public, which acquires, conserves, researches, communicates and exhibits the tangible and intangible heritage of humanity and its environment for the purposes of education, study and enjoyment.
The museum statistics is based on a voluntary annual survey conducted by Statistics Austria. The population is represented by a pool of addresses processed by the Museumsbund Österreich in the course of museum registration, which exclusively contains units that meet the requirements of the ICOM definition of a museum in terms of quality. The statistics provide information on visits and activities of museums, as well as on structural characteristics, employment and financial management.