Lower Austria leads Austria in childcare for two-year-olds

Lower Austria had the country’s highest childcare rate for two-year-olds in 2025/26, with 84.5% enrolled, according to figures from Statistics Austria reported by ORF. The national rate was 66.8%.

About 75,000 children attend more than 1,600 childcare centres in the state. Across all children aged two to five, the attendance rate was above the national average.

Lower Austria has 3,680 kindergarten groups, more than any other Austrian state. Half of the new groups opened nationwide in the past year were in Lower Austria. Public authorities run 97.5% of the state’s kindergartens.

The state government attributes the figures to a childcare expansion programme adopted in 2022. Its measures include free morning care, affordable afternoon care and provision close to families’ homes. By the end of 2027, 750 million euros is due to be invested, including 400 million euros from the state.

Nationwide, 59.6% of children up to age five attended facilities whose opening hours were compatible with their parents’ full-time work. In Lower Austria, the figures were 62.6% for children up to age two and 55.4% for those aged three to five. Statistics Austria’s Manuela Lenk said regional differences in childcare provision remained considerable.

In Lower Austria, 20.6% of children aged three to five in childcare had a first language other than German. The national figure was about 32%, rising to 60% in Vienna.