This country note features selected environmental indicators from the OECD Core Set, building on harmonised datasets available on OECD Data Explorer. The indicators reflect major environmental issues, including climate, air quality, freshwater resources, waste and the circular economy, and biodiversity. Differences with national data sources can occur due to delays in data treatment and publication, or due to different national definitions and measurement methods. The OECD is working with countries and other international organisations to further improve the indicators and the underlying data.
Environment at a Glance: Austria
Austria has an open economy and its citizens enjoy a high standard of living. The country has a strong industrial base: largest sectors are machinery, basic metals, foodstuffs and chemicals.
Austria is a relatively small country (83 900 km2) that is land-locked in central Europe. About 60% of the territory is mountainous and nearly half is forested. Only 32% of the territory lying below 500 metres above mean sea level. Therefore, the space available for settlements is limited to about 38% of the land area, essentially in river valleys and basins, which tend to be prone to natural hazards. Population density is relatively high though Austria is among the least densely populated country in the OECD.
The variety of landscape, altitude and climate engenders a diversity of vegetation. Water is an abundant resource. The country is a large exporter of timber, has important iron ore reserves and some deposits of minerals, lignite, oil and natural gas.
Austria relatively decoupled energy supply and CO2 emissions from real economic growth . Energy supply and production-based CO2 emissions have grown at a slower pace than GDP since the 2008-10 financial crisis.
The per person production-based and demand-based (or footprint) greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have decreased since 1995, but at a slow rate by OECD standards, though they remain below the OECD averages. Demand-based emissions are higher than production-based ones, meaning that Austria is a net importer of GHG emissions embodied in its final demand.
Since 2000, transport is the largest emitter of GHG emissions, followed by the industry sector.
Since 2000 the share of fossil fuels in the energy mix of Austria has diminished, while the share of renewables has increased. Coal, peat and oil shale represented 7.9% of total energy supply in 2023, oil 34.7%, natural gas 19.4% and renewables 35.7%.
Austria’s electricity production is largely decarbonated, with 84.5% of renewables. The country has a target of 100% renewable electricity supply by 2030. Austria’s Renewables Expansion Law (EAG), adopted in 2021, aims to replace fossil fuels that supplied 22% of the electricity market in 2022 (OECD, 2023[1]).
Austria has reduced by almost half major air pollutant emissions, and by more in the case of SOx, since 2000. The only exception is ammonia, whose emissions have remained stable. Emission intensities, both per GDP and per person, remain below the OECD average, but are higher than the OECD-Europe average for carbon monoxide.
Population exposure to PM2.5 is above the 2021 guideline value of 5 µg/m3 recommended by the World Health Organization. Regional differences are not very marked, from 9.1 microgrammes/m3 in Tyrol to 12.3 in Vienna.
Water stress is not a pressing issue, Austria has relatively abundant renewable freshwater resources and abstractions for public supply are low by OECD standard.
Austria is well advanced in wastewater treatment, with the vast majority of the population connected to a tertiary wastewater treatment plant.
Since 2020, data include municipal waste from other sources than households. Municipal waste generated per person is higher than the OECD average and has not decreased in the past 20 years. There has been a shift from disposal in landfills to thermal treatment due to a ban on landfilling of untreated municipal waste in force since 2004, and a gradual increase in the landfill tax
Per person domestic material consumption (DMC) has remained stable since 2000, as well as the material footprint, which remains well above DMC. By contrast, material productivity has increased alongside the OECD-Europe average and above the OECD average.
Austria is home to a diverse array of landscapes and wildlife. It houses about 45 000 animal species, of which almost 37 000 are insects, and nearly 3 000 species of vascular plant.
Austria has a high diversity of landscapes ranging from pannonian plains to high alpine regions, from wetlands to forest areas. Its biodiversity has been shaped by human intervention throughout the ages, especially through agriculture, forestry, hunting and fishing. Among the main causes of biodiversity loss are habitat destruction, degradation and fragmentation, in particular the sealing and fragmentation of landscapes by settlements and transport infrastructure. Additional threats are the abandoning of traditional forms of land use and land use intensification (CBD, 2022[2]).
Almost half of the territory is covered by forests, while meadows/pastures and crop fields make up almost a third of the territory.
Austria is one of the few OECD countries to have almost reached the 2030 GBF target of 30% of protected terrestrial areas.
This section shows selected policy instruments based on data available for most OECD countries and does not provide a complete overview of countries’ policy mix to achieve their environment-related objectives. Interpretation should consider the country specific context.
The share of environmentally-related tax revenues in GDP has been following the OECD-Europe average, with an important declining trend starting in 2016. With 1.9% in 2022, Austria is at the OECD-Europe average, but above the OECD average.
The tax base has not evolved much since 2000 and is largely dominated by energy and transport, while taxes on pollution and natural resources are negligible.
In the wake of the financial crisis that brought the Eurozone economy to a halt, Austria took steps to improve its fiscal outlook through the Stability Act of 2012. Among other features, the Act eliminated several support measures benefitting the consumption of fuels in various sectors, such as targeted relief from energy tax for LPG used in public transport, and diesel fuel used in railways and farming operations. As from 1 January 2013, farmers in Austria now face the same rate of excise tax on their consumption of diesel fuel as other final users. The removal of these measures accounts for the notable decline in consumer support observed between 2013 and 2021. An EU-approved tax reimbursement scheme for certain energy-intensive industries is, however, still in operation and accounts for the persistent support for natural gas and coal.
The Austrian government reimplemented some consumer support measures in response to the rising energy prices following the large-scale aggression by Russia over Ukraine in 2022. These measures include tax reductions, energy vouchers, a price cap and a postponement of CO2 pricing measures. They are benefitting both firms and households and are supporting the consumption of natural gas, fuels, and electricity (OECD, 2023[1]).
In total, 69.3% of GHG emissions in Austria were subject to a positive Net Effective Carbon Rate (ECR) in 2023. Explicit carbon prices in Austria consist of the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the national ETS permit prices, which cover 78.2% of GHG emissions in CO2 eq. Fuel excise taxes, an implicit form of carbon pricing, cover 52.8% of emissions in 2023. Fossil fuel subsidies cover 11.2% of emissions. About 59% of GHG emissions have a Net ECR above EUR 60 per tonne of CO2 eq., a mid-range estimate of current carbon costs. Net Effective Carbon Rates are highest in the road transport sector, which accounts for 27.3% of the country's total GHG emissions. The Net ECR is on average positive in all sectors (OECD, 2024[3]).
With 1.4% in 2024, environmentally-related government R&D budget is low by OECD standards. By contrast, the share of renewables in public energy R&D was above 30% during most of the 2000s, but has been steadily declining since the 2008 financial crisis, to reach 9.6% in 2024.
Austria is a relatively major player in environmentally-related inventions. With 21.9 inventions per person by national residents in 2022, Austria is above the OECD average. On the other hand, the share of environmentally-related in total inventions is in line with the OECD average and remains below 9%.
Austria’s development co-operation is rooted in human rights, partnership and responsibility principles. Geographically, it focuses on nine priority partner countries – particularly in Southeast and Eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa – and four priority regions (Western Balkans, West Africa and the Sahel, East and the Horn of Africa, and Southern Africa). Austria’s total official development assistance (ODA) decreased in 2024 to USD 1.8 billion (preliminary data), representing 0.34% of gross national income (GNI).
In 2022-23, Austria committed 39.4% of its total bilateral allocable ODA in support of the environment and the Rio Conventions (the DAC average was 39%), up from 36.9% in 2020-21. Twenty per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA focused on environmental issues as a principal objective, compared with the DAC average of 9.6%. thirty-six per cent of total bilateral allocable ODA focused on climate change overall, up from 34% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 34.8%). Austria had a greater focus on mitigation (26.5%) than on adaptation (19.1%) in 2022-23. Nine per cent of screened bilateral allocable ODA focused on biodiversity overall, up from 5.8% in 2020-21 (the DAC average was 7.6%). Austria committed USD 4.2 million in support of the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean in 2023, USD 1.9 million more than in 2022. The 2023 value is equivalent to 0.9% of Austria’s bilateral allocable ODA. (OECD, 2025[4]).
References
[2] CBD (2022), Country profiles: Austria, https://www.cbd.int/countries/profile/?country=at.
[4] OECD (2025), Development Co-operation Profiles, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/development-co-operation-profiles_04b376d7-en/austria_30311c16-en.html.
[3] OECD (2024), Pricing Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2024: Gearing Up to Bring Emissions Down, OECD Series on Carbon Pricing and Energy Taxation, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b44c74e6-en.
[1] OECD (2023), OECD Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels: Country Notes, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/5a3efe65-en.
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