Minimum income scheme and social assistance

Number of persons
Annual average 2021
199 173
Sunk 3.8 % compared to 2020
Amount of expenditure
Year 2021
966 mn euro
Gone up 0.7 % compared to 2020
Average monthly amount per community in need
Year 2021
712 euro
Gone up 1.9 % compared to 2020

Statistics on the minimum income scheme and social assistance record benefits granted in the context of the subsidary responsibility of the federal provinces and municipalities to sustain a person’s livelihood and housing outside residential institutions and to provide protection in case of illness, pregnancy and birth (primarily as inclusion in the statutory health insurance system of claimants who were previously not covered).

From the beginning of the transistion period in 2020, the statistics consist of data on the minimum income scheme and on social assistance. This period will last until all provinces have completely implemented social assistance on the basis of the Act on Principles for Social Assistance (Sozialhilfe-Grundsatzgesetz) and the Social Assistance Statistics Act (Sozialhilfe-Statistikgesetz). 

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 12 September 2022.

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 12 September 2022.

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 12 September 2022. – Vorarlberg: partially missing values.

S: STATISTICS AUSTRIA, Mindestsicherungs- und Sozialhilfestatistik. Compiled on 12 September 2022. – 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 12 September 2022. – Subsistence, housing 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
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