Migration has cost Austria a whopping €21.6 billion in ten years, according to a report by the economic research institute EcoAustria. The institute made the calculations based on state revenues and expenditures starting from 2015—the beginning of the European migration crisis—to 2023, and financial projections for 2024-25.
Austria has faced a growing number of migrants entering the country in recent years, with 112,000 people seeking asylum in 2022. Though the number decreased last year—56,000 migrants claimed asylum from January until November—it was still the third-highest number since the beginning of the migration crisis. The issue has had political consequences: the staunchly anti-immigration FPÖ party has been leading polls last year, with almost a third of voters supporting them.
