STEIERMARK - Population
Variable level of population
With the expansion of the armaments industry in World War II, the number of inhabitants rose from 1 015 000 in 1939 to 1 109 000 in 1951 (9%). Two thirds of this increase came from the net immigration of 62 000 people. In contrast, however, to the situation in Oberösterreich, which is in other respects a similar area, demographic changes in the post-war years have been muted and unstable.
Between 1951 and of 1991 (1 185 000 inhabitants) the population of Steiermark rose by 6.8%, i.e. at half of the national rate of increase. It had already reached the current level by 1973-74 but then fell back to 1 179 000 by the end of 1988. Initially, the excess of births over deaths more than made up for the numbers emigrating. Since 1975, the excess of births has been 1 per 1 000 at most. Between 1951 and 1988, there was net emigration of 90 000, increasingly from the old-established steelmaking area of Obersteiermark, whose population fell by 54 900 between 1951 and 1991 to only 298 000 inhabitants. The population in Steiermark at the census in 2001 (1 183 303 inhabitants) was with 1417 persons less than in 1991. There were 902 more people born during this decade, but this figure was too small to compensate the negative net migration (-2319 persons). Graz, the capital of the Bundesland, is the second largest city of Austria, with 226 244 inhabitants in 2001 (19% of the regions' population).
The 2001 census showed that out of every 100 foreigners 16 were EU nationals (including 12 Germans), 47 Yugoslavs, 9 Turks and 8 Romanians. Roman Catholics account for 81.3% of the population, with 4.3% Protestant.
Age structure and life expectancy are close to the national average. The population under 15 years of age represents 16.2%, which shows a decrease of 7.7% compared to 1991. Steiermark has the second highest share of "seniors" (over 60 years of age) compared to the other Austrian regions. They represent 22.3% of the population, which is 1.7% more than in 1991.
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