Austria: Upward trend in Muslim births

Austria: Upward trend in Muslim births

The following is from Kronen Zeitung, via Gates of Vienna:


These statistics are neither secret nor confidential. On the contrary,
in schools and on the streets the changes have been apparent for a while.
And still: the continuously growing proportion in Austria of newborns with
the Islamic faith is handled by the politicians with the utmost discretion.
This profound change in society is most glaring in Vienna. This is evident
in the official numbers of live births presented by Statistik Austria
(official statistics office).


Only 25 years ago, in 1984, there were 89,200 newborns in Austria, of
whom 78,000 were Roman Catholic and 2,200 were Muslim. This means 87.4% were
Roman Catholic, 2.2% were Muslim. However, at that time — in proportion to
the general population — there was already a lower number of Roman Catholics
and a quite drastically higher proportion of Muslims.


(more)


The article only brings statistics for Roman Catholics and Muslims. In 2008, there were 22.4% births in Austria which were neither, and in Vienna there were 41.9% such births.

In summary:

Austria:

1984: 87.4 - 2.2 (89,000)
1990: 84 - 3.8
1997: 76.5 - 7.8
2000: 72 - 10
2008: 63.6 - 14 (77,752)

Vienna:

1990: 65 - 9
1997: 54.3 - 14.4
2000: 48 - 18
2008: 36.7 - 21.4


Looking at a span of close to 25 years: while the total number of births dropped significantly, the number of Muslim births increased 2,200 to 10,883 - five times as many in absolute numbers and over 6 times as many in percentage points. On the other hand, the rate of increase appears to be dropping, percentage wise. From 1990 to 1997, Muslim births increased by 1.73, while from 2000 to 2008 they increased by 1.4. Due to lack of figures, it's unclear if this is due to an increase in total births, or a decrease in Muslim births.

It's interesting to note that according to a recent estimate, the percentage of Muslim youth among Austrian Muslims is about 10%, and is actually low compared to other European countries.

See also:
* More on demographics (UPDATED)
* Open Thread: "politically impossible" level of immigration
* Muslim Demographics - fact vs. fiction