According to the Jewish Community of Vienna’s Reporting Centre for Antisemitism, there were 719 reported antisemitic incidents in Austria in 2022, representing a 25.5% decrease from the previous year’s all-time recorded high of 965 incidents. The number of incidents remains higher than in 2019 and 2020, which saw 550 and 585 recorded incidents, respectively.
Despite the overall decrease in reported incidents, the number of physically threatening incidents, including physical assault, threats and deliberate damage to property, remained at the same high level as the previous year.
Of the 719 incidents, there were 14 physical assaults, 21 threats, 122 incidents of damage and desecration, 140 literature/mass mailings and 422 incidents of abusive behavior.
Limitations of the report
The report does not provide a complete overview of antisemitism in Austria, having stated that, as in previous years, it is assumed that there is a larger number of incidents that went unrecorded. The report only counts antisemitic incidents that were reported, verified and categorized as clearly antisemitic under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition by experts at the Antisemitism Reporting Centre.
The report uses a recognized system of categorization that has been in use for many years and is now established in several countries, opening the door to international comparison of results.
The downward trend in reported antisemitic incidents compared to 2021 continued throughout 2022, the report showed. Apart from a spike in January and a dip in December, the number of incidents fluctuated within a relatively narrow range from 44 to 74 incidents per month. From July to December, there was a fall in the number of reported antisemitic incidents following the worst recorded figures in 2021. However, a closer look at the statistics reveals a worrying trend: the number of reported incidents of specifically physical assaults and threats remained at the same high level as the previous year or even exceeded it.
According to the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR), the core Jewish population of Austria numbers at around 10,300 people. The population of Austrians with Jewish parents is 14,000 people. Austria’s core Jewish population’s size ranks 24th in the world. According to the JPR, the number of Jews per 1,000 in the population of Austria is 1.16.