Vorarlberg debt rises 17 percent to 5,012 euros per person

Debt held by Vorarlberg and its municipalities rose to 5,012 euros per resident in 2025, according to an analysis by Statistics Austria reported by ORF. The figure remains among the lowest in Austria, but the increase was above average.

Per-person debt rose by about 720 euros in one year, from approximately 4,290 euros in 2024. The 17 percent increase results in total debt of more than two billion euros across Vorarlberg’s population of about 412,000.

Only Salzburg, where debt rose by 18 percent, Burgenland at 17.8 percent and Vienna at 17.5 percent recorded larger increases. Lower growth was recorded in Lower Austria, at 3.8 percent.

Styria has highest debt per person

Vorarlberg ranked sixth among Austria’s nine states for absolute debt per person. Styria had the highest figure at 8,611 euros, followed by Carinthia at 8,201 euros and Burgenland at 7,783 euros. Lower Austria recorded 7,507 euros and Vienna 7,342 euros, compared with an Austrian average of 6,311 euros.

Only Salzburg, at 4,297 euros, Upper Austria, at 3,336 euros, and Tyrol, at 3,285 euros, had lower debt per person than Vorarlberg.

The Statistics Austria figures are dated March 31, 2026, and cover 2025. They are calculated under the European System of National and Regional Accounts and include not only core budgets, but also state chambers and companies that have been spun off from the public sector.

Municipalities drive increase

The increase was not primarily caused by the state budget. Vorarlberg’s 2025 accounts recorded net new borrowing of 143 million euros, but total borrowing was 77 million euros lower than planned.

The situation is more difficult at municipal level. Vorarlberg’s municipalities have the highest debt per person among Austria’s municipalities. Only Vienna, which is both a state and a municipality, has a higher figure. The 96 municipalities collectively passed the one billion euro debt mark for the first time in 2024.

In December, the Fiscal Advisory Council put municipal debt in Vorarlberg at 2,524 euros per person and state debt at 1,770 euros per person.

Walter Gohm, president of Vorarlberg’s municipal association, said municipalities faced a range of expensive responsibilities. High wages, land prices and infrastructure costs were among the reasons for the high costs, he said. Building a new school was therefore considerably more expensive in Vorarlberg than in Burgenland, while municipalities faced the same high land prices as private developers.

Federal debt far higher

State and municipal debt together still accounts for only 14 percent of Austria’s public debt. Total government debt stood at 418.1 billion euros at the end of 2025, equivalent to 81.5 percent of gross domestic product and 45,349 euros per person. It rose to 431.4 billion euros in the first quarter of 2026.