Visitors to national museums have risen significantly due partly to free access for young people.
Austria/ 8.2 Cultural consumption and participation 
8.2.1 Trends and figures
Participation figures in cultural life in Austria have fluctuated since 2000. An increase is visible in the fields of mass media (the number of radio and TV licences etc.) and loans at public libraries. Visitor numbers to the theatre have hardly changed; in Vienna's private theatres / Associated Stages of Vienna visitors have slightly declined. Visitor numbers to national museums on the other hand have risen by a quarter, although numbers for museums in the provinces have slightly fallen. There were only 1% more readers in libraries in 2010 than in 2000, but 20% more media were loaned.
Table 4: Participation figures, 2000, 2005, 2007-2010
|
|
2000 |
2005 |
2007 |
2008 |
2009 |
2010 |
|
Visits to federal theatres |
1 297 000 |
1 336 000 |
1 315 000 |
1 304 000 |
1 278 000 |
1 300 600 |
|
Visits to major Viennese private theatres and Vereinigte Bühnen Wien |
1 410 000 |
1 281 000 |
1 079 000 |
1 183 000 |
1 104 000 |
1 354 400 |
|
Visits to theatres in the Bundesländer and main cities |
1 198 000 |
1 141 000 |
1 119 000 |
1 093 000 |
1 207 000 |
1 134 000 |
|
Visits to federal museums, in 1 000s |
3 213 000 |
3 453 000 |
3 790 000 |
4 290 000 |
3 865 400 |
4 214 600 |
|
Visits to museums in the Bundesländer |
2 925 000* |
1 716 000 |
2 090 000 |
1 980 000 |
2 232 181 |
2 045 960 |
|
Visits to libraries (readers) |
1 120 000 |
1 098 000 |
1 138 000 |
1 104 000 |
1 079 200 |
1 132 400 |
|
Loans, in millions |
17.1 |
20.0 |
20.0 |
20.3 |
20.7 |
21.5 |
|
Newspapers total |
222 |
259 |
289 |
241 |
241 |
262 |
|
of which dailies |
31 |
32 |
32 |
31 |
31 |
29 |
|
Radio licences |
2 760 000 |
3 238 000 |
3 274 000 |
3 338 000 |
3 395 000 |
3 441 000 |
|
TV licences |
2 710 000 |
3 075 000 |
3 172 000 |
3 218 000 |
3 239 000 |
3 252 000 |
|
Visits to cinemas, in millions |
16.0 |
15.7 |
15.7 |
15.6 |
18.4 |
17.3 |
Source: Kulturstatistik 2000-2010.
* including special exhibitions of the Bundesländer.
In 2007, a national survey ("Kultur-Monitoring", commissioned by the Federal Ministry for Education, the Arts and Culture) was conducted on the participation of the Austrian population in culture. The results are following: the participation rose as a result of the growing supply, particularly in the fields of the book market, small stages, film, youth music and exhibitions, while the participation figures of big institutions were stagnant or slightly declining. The study further shows a close connection between cultural participation and educational level. Women in general are more interested in culture, in particular those under 45 with at least Matura-level (A-Level) education. The interviewees were in favour of more provision of art and culture in schools. Only a minority endorse public support for arts and culture.
The 2008/09, the "time-use survey" by STATISTIK AUSTRIA shows that people over the age of ten have on average 3 hours 19 minutes leisure time in an average day (5 hours at weekends). Of this, men spend some 1.4% on cultural activities, women somewhat less, although women spend more time than men reading books (2.7% against 1.9%). Above and beyond this, television watching plays an important role: 79.4% (Mon.-Fri.) and 82.6% (at weekends), with an average of 2 hours 20 minutes (Mon.-Fri.) and 2 hours 54 minutes (at weekends). Listening to the radio or to music is comparatively rarely mentioned: 4.7% on workdays and 5.2% at weekend spend approx. 1 hour of their leisure time on this.
Chapter published: 08-12-2012
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Council of Europe/ERICarts, "Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends in Europe, 14th edition", 2013 | ISSN 2222-7334