Police data offers a closer look at who faces violent hate crime in Austria, while leaving part of the picture unrecorded.
Austria’s latest hate-crime report records 1,575 victims of prejudice-related violence in 2025.
They were subjected to offences including assault, serious assault, dangerous threats and coercion. Some were targeted because of their perceived origin, others because of their religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability or social status.
The clearest pattern in the figures is that people targeted over their national or ethnic origin faced far more recorded violence than any other group.
But the statistics only capture cases reported to the police, recognised as hate crime and investigated far enough for officers to complete their report – so they definitely don’t tell the whole picture.
732 victims targeted over their origin
National or ethnic origin was linked to 732 victims of violence-related hate crime.
That was the largest total for any prejudice category and almost three times the figure recorded for religion, the next largest group.
The Interior Ministry found that origin was the dominant motive in every age group among victims of the five most common violent offences.
Looking at all origin-related hate crimes, not only violent ones, police recorded 293 motives involving assault and 220 involving dangerous threats. Incitement, property damage and suspected breaches of Austria’s law against Nazi activity were also common.
The category is broad. Police don’t divide it by nationality or ethnic community, so the report can’t show which particular groups were most frequently targeted.
Origin also often overlapped with other characteristics. Among victims facing several forms of prejudice, the most common combination was origin and religion, followed by origin and skin colour.
READ ALSO: What to do if you experience racism in Austria
241 victims of religious hate violence
Police linked religious prejudice to 241 victims of violent hate crime.
Muslims accounted for the largest group, with 145 victims. Dangerous threats, assault and incitement were the most frequently recorded anti-Muslim offences overall.
There were 59 victims in violent cases involving hostility towards Christians, while 21 were recorded in antisemitic violent cases. A further 16 victims were linked to prejudice against other religions.
The smaller figure for antisemitic violence doesn’t mean antisemitic hate was uncommon. It often appeared in a different form.
Police documented 247 antisemitic motives overall, including 94 online. More than one-third of recorded antisemitic incidents therefore took place on the internet, often involving Nazi content or incitement.
READ ALSO: How widespread is racism in Austria?
179 victims targeted over sexual orientation
Sexual orientation was connected to 179 victims of violent hate crime, including 161 victims in homophobic cases.
The report recorded 297 homophobic motives overall, 9 percent more than in 2024. Nearly one in four involved an assault.
More than half of homophobic offences occurred in public or semi-public places, including streets, public transport, shops and hospitality businesses.
The report also points to a series of particularly brutal attacks on gay or allegedly paedophile men. Investigators said victims were lured to meetings using false online profiles, then assaulted, humiliated and sometimes filmed.
Rainbow flags, clothing and other visible LGBTQ+ symbols also prompted insults, threats and assaults. Flags displayed by individuals and organisations were torn down, cut, burned or stolen.
READ ALSO: Austrian police uncover nationwide network behind violent anti-LGBTQ+ attacks
100 victims targeted over gender
Gender-related prejudice was linked to 100 victims of violent offences.
Women accounted for 84 of these victims, while 13 were recorded in transphobic cases. The remaining three were men.
Dangerous threats were the most common offence linked specifically to misogyny, followed by property damage and assault.
Transphobic cases also frequently involved incitement, while more than one-third of recorded transphobic motives took place online.
59 victims targeted over disability
The report recorded 59 victims of violent hate crime connected to disability.
Twenty-eight were linked to physical disabilities or sensory impairments, while 31 concerned psychological or cognitive disabilities.
Assault was prominent in both groups, followed by dangerous threats and incitement.
Offences related to disability were often committed directly against the person rather than through online posts or damage to property.
READ ALSO: Austria ranks among worst EU countries for racism, new study reveals
Who else appears in the figures?
Police recorded 32 victims of violence linked to age and 23 connected to social status.
Twelve of the social-status victims were homeless people. Assault was the most common offence specifically targeting this group.
Men made up 62 percent of all recorded victims of violence-related hate crime, while women accounted for 32 percent. The report’s victim figures may also include legal entities and cases in which information about the victim was incomplete.
What remains outside the statistics?
Austria recorded 6,751 suspected hate crimes and 7,327 prejudice motives in total during 2025. One offence can have several motives, so the figures for individual groups can’t simply be added together.
The report also covers only cases where the police investigation had been completed. It doesn’t include every incident reported during the year, and it says nothing about whether prosecutors brought charges or a court convicted anyone.
Many incidents never reach the police at all. Victims may not report them, while officers may not always identify or record the prejudice behind an offence.
The reported 1,575 victims therefore offer a clearer picture of who faces violent hate crime in Austria, but not a complete one.
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Useful vocabulary
die Hasskriminalität – hate crime
das Gewaltopfer – victim of violence
das Vorurteilsmotiv – prejudice motive
die Herkunft – origin or background
die Körperverletzung – assault or bodily harm
die gefährliche Drohung – dangerous threat
die Verhetzung – criminal incitement
die Mehrfachbetroffenheit – being targeted over several characteristics
die Dunkelziffer – estimated number of unreported cases
die Anzeige – police report or criminal complaint