The Austrian Social Enterprise Monitor 2023/2024 is the second national edition of the study based on data from the European Social Enterprise Monitor. It presents current findings and, as part of this second study, for the first time enables a comparison of comprehensive results relating to social entrepreneurship in Austria. In addition to the general objectives of the project, the current study offers new insights:

Here you can download the Austrian Social Enterprise Monitor 2023/2024 (german only)

15 facts about social enterprises in Austria

Social enterprises in Austria ...

1 ...are committed to society. They work most frequently in the areas of health and wellbeing, reducing inequality, gender equality and education. Around half (47.9 %) also or exclusively pursue ecological goals, for example in the areas of sustainability and climate protection.

2 ...are innovative. 83.5 % stated that they had implemented significant innovations either at the time of founding or in the last two years. Almost one in two social enterprises (46.4 %) use new technologies such as mobile apps or artificial intelligence in their work.

3 ...are often young organizations. 47.9 % of organizations were founded in the last ten years. 38.6 % are in the early stages of organizational development (“seed”, “startup” or “early development” phase).

4 ...put their mission first. 94.3 % of organizations reinvest the majority of their profits or do not distribute them to owners.

5 ...take their impact seriously. 84.5 % are already measuring their impact. On average, they spend 8.5 % of their budget on impact measurement.

6 ...create many (valuable) jobs. Extrapolated to the population of social enterprises, the sector employs 34,000 to 93,000 people, calculated in full-time equivalents, and the trend is rising. People who have fewer opportunities on the labor market are often employed, which adds additional value to these jobs.

7 ...are female and inclusive. 50.8 % of the management and 47.6 % of the founders are female. 43.8 % of social enterprises employ people with disabilities and 38.1 % employ people from ethnic minorities. Employees are involved in decision-making in 90.2 % of organizations.

8 ...are driving the ecological transformation. The majority also focus on sustainability within their organizations: 51.6 % implement the principles of the “circular economy” in their organization, 46.4 % pay attention to environmental sustainability in their supply chains.

9 ...have international ambitions. 34.5 % stated that they are already achieving their impact goals on an international level, 32.0 % plan to expand internationally.

10 ...now rely more heavily on private sources of finance. The share of market income in total income has risen to 47.7 %.

11 ...are affected by crises. 79.1 % see the economic and political environment and in particular inflation, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine as an obstacle to their work. Social enterprises are under particular economic pressure, partly due to their work with marginalized groups. This is reflected in falling profits and a change in purchasing behavior.

12 ...are resilient. 94.6 % of the companies surveyed in 2021/2022 are still active despite the difficult environment. Social enterprises thus show a similarly high level of resilience as the Austrian start-up sector.

13 ...are perceived by the media. An analysis of daily and weekly newspapers shows increasing interest in social enterprises over the years - albeit still at a low level.

14 ...are familiar with the Verified Social Enterprise label and hope for its further development. Around half of the participating organizations (49.7 %) have heard of the label and 12.1 % have already received it. Expert interviews and open response options show potential for the further development of the label.

15 ...would like more support from politicians and the ecosystem. The majority rate support from politicians (69.0 %) and the ecosystem (57.7 %) as weak, very weak or non-existent. Support is particularly desired in the areas of financing, tax treatment, visibility and market access.