Minimum income scheme and social assistance

Number of persons
Annual average 2022
189 957
Sunk 4.6 % compared to 2021
Amount of expenditure
Year 2022
972 mn euro
Gone up 0.7 % compared to 2021
Average monthly amount per community in need
Year 2022
741 euro
Gone up 4.1 % compared to 2021

Statistics of the minimum income scheme and social assistance cover the benefits granted in the context of the subsidiary responsibility of the federal provinces and municipalities to maintain a person’s livelihood and housing outside residential institutions and to provide protection in case of illness, pregnancy and childbirth (mainly by inclusion in the statutory health insurance system of claimants who were previously not covered).

Until 2019 solely statistics on the minimum income scheme, from 2020 the statistics consist of data on both the minimum income scheme and social assistance. While there is no legal basis for the provision of minimum income scheme data by the federal provinces, there is one with the Social Assistance Statistics Act (Sozialhilfe-Grundsatzgesetz) due to the Act on Principles for Social Assistance the Social Assistance Statistics Act (Sozialhilfe-Statistikgesetz).

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 23 August 2023.

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 23 August 2023.

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 23 August 2023. – Vorarlberg: partially missing values.

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 23 August 2023. – Subsistence and housing: outside residential institutions. – Assistance in case of illness: primarly inclusion in the statutory health insurance system. – Average monthly amount of benefit: entitlement to subsistence and housing. – Community in need ("Bedarfsgemeinschaft"): unit for which the amount of the benefit is calculated. It consists either of one person or of several persons. A household may comprise more than one community in need.

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 23 August 2023. – Subsistence and housing outside residential institutions and assistance in case of illness (primarly inclusion in the statutory health insurance system).

Social assistance statistics shs@statistik.gv.at
General information service Phone: +43 1 711 28-7070
info@statistik.gv.at Available on weekdays from 9.00 am–4.00 pm
Last updated on 2023-09-28.
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