The birth rate of Syrians is nearly three times the Austrian rate.
The case of a Syrian family with eleven children has recently drawn attention to the sharp rise in birth rates among Syrian refugee women in Austria. New data from the "Statistical Guide to Migration and Integration," published by the Integration Fund in collaboration with Statistics Austria and the Ministry of Integration led by ÖVP Minister Claudia Plakolm, confirms the significant demographic impact of the wave of Syrian refugees.
Statistics show that the average number of children per woman in Austria is 1.31. For Austrian women, the rate is 1.22, for Austrian women born abroad it is 1.27, while the rate for non-Austrians rises to 1.58.
When data is divided by the country of birth of mothers, the variation becomes clearer. The average number of children for women from Bulgaria and Romania is 1.79, for Turkish women it is 1.8, and for women from the former Yugoslavia (excluding EU member states) it is 1.94. Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi women top the list by a large margin, with an average of 3.3 children, which is nearly three times the rate for Austrian women.
The age of a woman at the birth of her first child varies significantly. Austrian women have their first child at an average age of 30.5 years, Austrian women of foreign descent at 29.4 years, and non-Austrians at 28.7 years. In contrast, Syrian, Afghan, and Iraqi women have an average age of just 26.2 years for their first childbirth, making them younger than Turkish mothers, whose average age is 26.6 years.
The average age of the population in Austria is 43.6 years, with the average age of Austrians being 45.4 years, while the average age of non-Austrians is 36.3 years. Among foreign groups, the average age of Iraqis is 30.3 years, Afghans 27.4 years, and Syrians only 25.4 years, making them the youngest demographic group in the country.