Nearly half are struggling

Bitter financial survey: Austrians are despairing!

Stock image(Bild: Malena Brenek)

A survey of Austrians has revealed a bitter reality: More and more citizens feel their financial situation is worsening—as new shocking figures show...

While 58 percent of Austrians rate their current financial situation as “very good” or “somewhat good,” for 43 percent it has worsened since November. A remarkable figure!

Only seven percent of those surveyed reported that their situation had improved. Last November, 67 percent had still stated that their finances were at least “somewhat good.” This is according to a recent IMAS report.

Majority Fears an Even Worse Future
And relief does not seem to be in sight: Additionally, half of those surveyed expect higher expenses in the coming three months. Low-income earners (57 percent) and those with a household income between 3,000 and 4,000 euros (58 percent) in particular anticipate higher expenses. Among those whose financial situation has worsened over the past year, as many as 71 percent expect to have to spend more.

Stock image(Bild: Malena Brenek)

The Method

• IMAS surveyed 1,030 people in face-to-face interviews from April 8 to 29.
• To ensure statistical representativeness of the Austrian population, only individuals aged 16 and older were interviewed.

31 percent describe their current financial situation as “not very good,” while 8 percent say it is “not good at all”; both groups have grown by eight and three percentage points, respectively, since November.

As expected, those in higher socioeconomic strata (A/B class) and high earners (with a net household income of 4,000 euros or more) rate their current situation most favorably. Single-person households and low earners (with a net household income of up to 2,000 euros) are in the worst financial position. 

For 62 percent of those who were already low-income earners, their financial situation has tended to worsen over the past twelve months; for 34 percent, it has remained the same, and only four percent reported an improvement. Finances have also tightened for half of single-person households and 49 percent of those in the lowest socioeconomic class. In contrast, liquidity has improved the most for three-person households and high earners, as well as in the higher socioeconomic class. Here, there has been an increase of 11 and 9 percent, respectively.

Austrians’ debts are piling up
A look at the figures from debt counseling services also shows that the wealth gap is widening. “Right now, people are simply struggling with the expenses of daily life,” said Clemens Mitterlehner, head of the Association of Debt Counseling Services (ASB), recently in Vienna. Last year, 21,599 people sought debt counseling for the first time—which, combined with the figures from the past two years, is the highest number since 2011. 

Nearly 9,000 personal bankruptcies
The most common reason for over-indebtedness in 2025 was again job loss or a decline in income (36.4 percent). In addition, 8,768 personal bankruptcies were filed last year, with about 70 percent of them supported or represented by a debt counseling agency. In this context, Mitterlehner warned of a “dramatic worsening” in this area.