This analysis provides the data foundation for strategic decisions on digitalising the public sector. Germany is currently investing around €108 million in a TYPO3-based Government Site Builder – a strong signal for this choice of technology. We analyse how Austria can benefit from this development and take a smarter path in our article Austria + TYPO3: Smart Government Websites Based on the German Model.
This article was originally published on 13 December 2025. We comprehensively updated the database, figures, search directory, and methodology in July 2026. The existing URL remains unchanged.
Table of Contents
Background
Directory gap visible
Recommendations
National register, typology, audits
Downsides
Federalism, IT sector, vendor lock-in
Conclusion
Count first, plan later
The Current Situation: Why This Analysis?
Anyone discussing a "federal CMS" or a central government platform first needs a clear answer to a seemingly trivial question: How many websites does the Austrian state actually operate?
The honest answer remains: An exact total cannot currently be verified.
Update July 2026: A normalised, source-based directory has emerged from the original research. It processes 45,278 datasets from nine official source systems and publishes 27,947 mappings between source objects and web addresses. These mappings cover 27,934 institutions and locations, 7,906 unique web addresses, and 6,716 unique domains.
This is a significantly broader assessment – but it is no proof that every public or semi-public website in Austria has been captured. Where official sources do not provide a web address, the gap remains explicitly visible. The directory does not add guessed or schematically generated domains.
45,278
Official source datasets from nine verifiable source systems
27,947
Published mappings between institutions and web addresses
7,906
Unique web addresses across 6,716 domains
0
Guessed or generated domains – only source-verified addresses are published
Austria has around 2,100 municipalities, but official sources list one entry per location – including villages and cadastral municipalities. This is why this category shows 22,384 entries, even though many locations share the same municipal website. This shared usage is precisely the leverage point: understanding the fragmentation allows for bundling operation, maintenance, and security more cost-effectively – for instance, via a unified CMS. Our article Austria + TYPO3: Smart Government Websites Based on the German Model shows how this can be achieved.
Executive Summary
Before a "federal CMS" or a central digital platform for the public sector can be planned effectively, a reliable, continuously updated inventory is required. You cannot consolidate what you do not know.
There is no central register of all public websites in Austria. Our directory therefore aggregates nine official source systems, preserves the origin of each dataset, and highlights missing information. Out of 36,631 institutions and locations classified as relevant, 27,934 have at least one accepted web address; for 8,697, it is missing in the analysed official sources.
The digital presence of the Austrian state reflects the country's federal structure: decentralised, autonomous, fragmented. This is not a bug – it is a feature of the Austrian constitution. However, this structure brings significant challenges for discoverability, accessibility, and system-wide analyses.
9,891
Source-supplied URLs verified
2,765 directly accessible, 6,463 redirected, and 663 currently inaccessible
30,301
Accepted source relationships
After normalisation, verification of evidence, and aggregation
91
Quarantined source values
Atypical entries are not published without verification
0
Unverified URLs
Every URL value supplied by the sources underwent technical verification
Federal Level: Historical Model Calculation
The following figures for the federal level originate from the initial analysis of December 2025. They represent a contemporary estimate of core websites and subsites – not a subset that can be directly compared with the current 27,947 directory mappings. The presented departmental assumptions yield 190 subsites or roughly 203 digital touchpoints.
The Ministerial Core Framework
The Stocker federal government has consisted of the Federal Chancellery and 13 federal ministries since March 2025. Each unit operates a primary web presence – with one exception: the Ministry for Europe, Integration, and Family is located within the Federal Chancellery and uses its domain.
| Ministry | Acronym | Official URL |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Chancellery | BKA | bka.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health, Care, and Consumer Protection | BMASGPK | sozialministerium.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Education | BMB | bmb.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs | BMEIA | bmeia.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Finance | BMF | bmf.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of the Interior | BMI | bmi.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Justice | BMJ | bmj.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry for Women, Science, and Research | BMFWF | bmfwf.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry for Innovation, Mobility, and Infrastructure | BMIMI | bmimi.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Defence | BMLV | bmlv.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Climate, and Environment | BMLUK | bmluk.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Economy, Energy, and Tourism | BMWET | bmwet.gv.at |
| Federal Ministry of Housing, Art, Culture, Media, and Sport | BMWKMS | bmwkms.gv.at |
Why this is relevant: Every government reshuffle presents challenges for the state's digital identity. Domain changes, URL redirects, and maintaining continuity for citizens require well-thought-out governance strategies. Without clear standards, broken links, orphaned content, and user confusion are inevitable.
The Subsite Ecosystem: Strategy Instead of Chaos
Behind every ministry lies a complex network of subsites. The structure follows a clear logic:
Case Study: Ministry of Education – Decentralisation as a Principle
The Federal Ministry of Education (BMB) illustrates the complexity of this ecosystem:
Type A subsites of the Ministry of Education:
- 9 education directorates – one per federal state, each with its own web presence
- Federal school hostels (Bundesschullandheime) – shared website on bslh.at
- Institute for Quality Assurance (IQS) – independent portal
- University colleges of teacher education (Pädagogische Hochschulen) – nationwide network
- Colleges of technology and vocational education (Zentrallehranstalten) – various specialisations
The high number of subsites is not a sign of disorganisation, but a deliberate strategy: Type A subsites enable organisational autonomy, while Type B subsites establish target-audience-specific communication channels with distinct branding – far more effective than an overloaded main website.
Quantitative Synthesis: The Federal Digital Footprint
| ressort | subsites | gesamt |
|---|---|---|
| Federal Chancellery | 15 | 16 |
| Federal Ministry of Labour & Social Affairs | 15 | 16 |
| Federal Ministry of Education | 30 | 31 |
| Federal Ministry of European Affairs | 10 | 11 |
| Federal Ministry of Finance | 10 | 11 |
| Federal Ministry of the Interior | 15 | 16 |
| Federal Ministry of Justice | 10 | 11 |
| Federal Ministry for Women & Science | 15 | 16 |
| Federal Ministry for Innovation & Mobility | 15 | 16 |
| Federal Ministry of Defence | 10 | 11 |
| Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Climate | 20 | 21 |
| Federal Ministry of Economy & Energy | 10 | 11 |
| Federal Ministry of Housing & Culture | 15 | 16 |
| Category | Count |
|---|---|
| Ministerial Core Websites | 13 |
| Subsites (Types A & B, historical assumption) | ~190 |
| Total of represented departmental assumptions | ~203 |
Provincial Level: Federalism in the Digital Space
Nine Federal States, Nine Digital Strategies
Austria's federal structure is directly reflected in the digital landscape. Each federal state operates with a high degree of autonomy – resulting in a fragmented yet diverse digital presence.
| Federal State | Main Website | Special Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Burgenland | burgenland.at | Smallest federal state |
| Carinthia | ktn.gv.at | Bilingual region (Slovenian) |
| Lower Austria | noe.gv.at | Largest federal state by area |
| Upper Austria | land-oberoesterreich.gv.at | Longest domain URL |
| Salzburg | salzburg.gv.at | City and state separated |
| Styria | steiermark.at | Second-largest federal state |
| Tyrol | tirol.gv.at | Alpine region with a tourism focus |
| Vorarlberg | vorarlberg.at | Westernmost federal state |
| Vienna | wien.gv.at | City and federal state in one |
Institutional Isomorphism: Similar Structures, Different Implementation
The digital architecture of state administrations structurally resembles the federal level – a phenomenon organisational researchers call "institutional isomorphism": organisations in the same sector tend to develop similar structures.
The largest federal state relies on extensive decentralisation:
- 20 district authorities (Bezirkshauptmannschaften) + 4 statutory cities
- Lower Austria State Clinics (NÖ Landeskliniken) – dedicated web presence for healthcare
- Lower Austria Care and Nursing Centres (NÖ Pflege- und Betreuungszentren) – separate portal
- Numerous topic portals for tourism, economy, and culture
Estimated websites: ~50
Quantitative Assessment of the Federal States
The following table documents the historical estimate from December 2025. It describes the core websites and subsites of the state administrations as manually assumed at the time; the current regional evaluation of the normalised directory follows below.
| name | bezirke | subsites |
|---|---|---|
| Lower Austria | 24 | 25 |
| Upper Austria | 18 | 20 |
| Styria | 13 | 20 |
| Carinthia | 10 | 15 |
| Tyrol | 9 | 15 |
| Burgenland | 9 | 10 |
| Salzburg | 6 | 15 |
| Vienna | 1 | 20 |
| Vorarlberg | 4 | 10 |
| Federal State | Core Website | District Authorities | Further Subsites | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burgenland | 1 | 9 | 10 | 20 |
| Carinthia | 1 | 10 | 15 | 26 |
| Lower Austria | 1 | 24 | 25 | 50 |
| Upper Austria | 1 | 18 | 20 | 39 |
| Salzburg | 1 | 6 | 15 | 22 |
| Styria | 1 | 13 | 20 | 34 |
| Tyrol | 1 | 9 | 15 | 25 |
| Vorarlberg | 1 | 4 | 10 | 15 |
| Vienna | 1 | 1 | 20 | 22 |
Historical estimate for the state level: 253 modelled websites (94 district authorities + 9 core portals + 150 assumed subsites; as of December 2025)
Municipal Level: The Greatest Unknown
2,092 Municipalities – and No Directory
The database is precise: according to Statistics Austria, there were exactly 2,092 municipalities in Austria as of 1 January 2025. But this is where the problem begins.
There is no central, official, machine-readable directory of all municipal websites. Although official sources verify municipalities and numerous web addresses, they do not provide a demonstrably complete total list of all municipal web presences. Even the Association of Austrian Municipalities (Gemeindebund), state associations, and oesterreich.gv.at do not fully bridge this gap.
This is not a technical side note – it is a structural weakness in the national e-government infrastructure.
The existence of unofficial, commercial directories (such as gemeinden.at) and community-maintained lists (such as on Wikipedia) is a clear symptom: a market has emerged because the state does not provide an official solution.
Fractal Complexity: The Subsite Problem Multiplied
Much like ministries and states, municipalities also operate subsites – and they do so on a scale of over two thousand:
Typical subsites of larger municipalities:
- Municipal utilities (Stadtwerke) – energy, water, waste
- Public transport – city bus, regional rail
- Housing associations – municipal housing
- Commercial enterprises – business parks, trade fair grounds
Each of these enterprises may operate its own web presence.
Capturing these factors completely and keeping them up to date for 2,092 municipalities is not reliably possible without a mandatory central reporting source. The normalised directory aggregates existing official evidence but deliberately leaves unverified web addresses blank. The complexity is fractal: the same challenges seen at federal and state levels are repeated thousands of times over.
Searchable Directory: The Database
As a practical outcome of this analysis, we provide a searchable, source-based directory of public and semi-public web presences. One row corresponds to a published mapping between an institution and a web address. Since multiple institutions can share the same web address, 27,947 mappings are not equivalent to 27,947 unique websites.
| Category | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Municipalities & Towns | 22,384 | 80.1% |
| Education & Science | 4,725 | 16.9% |
| Provincial Administration | 278 | 1.0% |
| Health & Social Affairs | 182 | 0.7% |
| Economy & Public Enterprises | 117 | 0.4% |
| Other Categories | 261 | 0.9% |
| Total | 27,947 | 100% |
'Other Categories' aggregates professional chambers (92), justice (51), agencies (47), federal administration (38), security (30), and culture (3). The table describes mappings, not unique domains.
A REST API is available for programmatic access to the directory. The complete search interface with advanced filtering options can be found in the Tools section.
Regional Distribution
Of the 27,947 published mappings, 27,872 are assigned to a federal state (99.7%). For 75 mappings, the state remains unassigned:
| bundesland | anzahl |
|---|---|
| OÖ | 8609 |
| NÖ | 6028 |
| Styria | 3769 |
| Carinthia | 3702 |
| Tyrol | 1816 |
| Salzburg | 1389 |
| Burgenland | 953 |
| Vienna | 941 |
| Vorarlberg | 665 |
Strategic Recommendations: What Needs to Happen Now
National Domain Register
Feasible in the short term: A central, machine-readable register of all public domains – managed by the Federal Chancellery (BKA) or A-SIT. The foundation for any further digitalisation initiative.
Standardised Typology
Medium-term: Official classification of public websites (Type A/B/C model). Enables systematic analyses, compliance audits, and resource planning.
Automated Audits
Continuous: Web crawling for accessibility, security, and up-to-dateness. Transparency dashboard for citizens. The basis for evidence-based policy.
With gov.uk, the United Kingdom has created the most rigorous example of a centralised government portal. In just 15 months (2013–2014), over 300 agency websites were migrated to a single platform, and 685 domains were closed. The result: better discoverability, a consistent user experience, and a more efficient administration. The USA, by contrast, merely operates a signpost portal with usa.gov – the more than 20,000 individual .gov domains remain decentralised.
The Downsides of Centralisation
The idea of a single, central web portal for all public bodies sounds tempting – but it has significant side effects:
Federalism & Autonomy
Austria is a federal state. The states and municipalities have constitutionally guaranteed competences – including their public branding. A central portal could be interpreted as an encroachment on state sovereignty.
Regional IT Sector
Hundreds of Austrian IT companies, agencies, and freelancers earn their living by developing public websites. A central system would massively consolidate this market – to the benefit of just a few large providers.
Vendor Lock-in
A single system means dependence on a single provider. Maintenance contracts, licensing costs, and security updates would be negotiated centrally – granting immense market power to that provider.
Single Point of Failure
A central portal is a central target. A successful cyberattack would not just affect one municipality – but potentially all public services simultaneously.
The solution does not lie in choosing between "complete centralisation" and "total uncontrolled growth". A federated model – with shared standards, a central register, and decentralised implementation – could combine the benefits of both approaches.
The first step is a complete directory of what exists.
You can find concrete implementation strategies and technical architecture proposals in our analysis Austria + TYPO3: Smart Government Websites Based on the German Model.
Conclusion: Count First, Plan Later
The digital architecture of the Austrian public sector is complex, decentralised, and dynamic. The updated directory makes this landscape significantly more measurable: 45,278 official source datasets lead to 30,301 accepted source relationships and 27,947 published mappings for 27,934 institutions and locations. Behind these are 7,906 unique web addresses on 6,716 domains.
This precision has a clear limit: the directory can only map what official sources verify. For 8,697 of the 36,631 institutions and locations classified as relevant, the analysed sources do not provide an accepted web address. The database is therefore a robust source-based inventory, but not credible proof that every public and semi-public website in Austria is already included.
"You can't manage what you can't measure."
— Peter Drucker
This analysis shows: Before discussing a "federal CMS" or central platforms, Austria needs a binding, continuously maintained register. The first step of any digital transformation is transparency – not technology.
Decentralisation as a Principle
The Subsite as a Strategic Tool
The Critical Directory Gap
The way forward begins with a question that cannot yet be conclusively answered: How many websites does the Austrian public and semi-public sector operate? The directory provides a transparent, reproducible data basis for this – and simultaneously highlights where official sources are still lacking.
Methodological Notes
We analyse how Austria can benefit from Germany's €108 million investment in TYPO3 and take a smarter path in: Austria + TYPO3: Smart Government Websites Based on the German Model