Austrian car number plates are mandatory vehicle registration plates displaying the registration mark () of motor vehicles in Austria. They are used to verify street legality, proof of a valid liability insurance and to identify and recognise the vehicle.

Appearance

The licence plates are made of metal; the imprinted text is in black letters and digits on a white background. Since November 1, 2002 the common design comprises a blue section on the left with the EU circle of stars and the country code ('A') like other vehicle registration plates of the European Union. On the top and bottom, there are red-white-red tribands, the national colours of Austria. Two plates have to be present on each car (front and rear). Dealer plates show white letters on a green background, temporary plates show white letters on a cyan background, and foreign trailers show white letters on a red background. For motorbikes and cars with smaller areas for plates, smaller licence plates are available with two lines of text. Moped plates are in different appearance and shape, they show white letters on a red background.

Lettering system

The alphanumeric format for registration plates is "XX ∇=provincial emblem number+letter(s)" or "XX ∇=provincial emblem personalised letters+number"; XX - one or two letters which indicate the local registration office (district where the registered possessor resides). As a general rule, State capitals have one letter; other districts have two letters. the coat of arms of the Austrian state the district belongs to (here shown as "∇"); diplomatic vehicles have a dash (–) instead, federal official vehicles wear the Austrian Federal Eagle. A three to six-letter/number sequence which uniquely distinguishes each of the vehicles displaying the same initial area code. The letter Q is excluded from all sequences.

There are several lettering schemes: The letter/number sequence must contain at least three characters (at least one digit and one letter). In countryside districts, the maximum is five characters. Regular plates start with a digit and end with a letter. Personalized plates, which can be obtained by paying an extra fee, are ordered vice versa. (exceptions: see below) The letter/number sequence of state capitals contains up to six characters (at least one digit one letter with a minimum of four characters) (e.g. W ∇ 12345 A). Until the year 2000 the plates were issued by the district administrations, who used a variety of lettering schemes, e.g. one digit and three letters (e.g. FK ∇ 1 ABC in the Feldkirch district), two digits and two letters (e.g. WL ∇ 12 AB in the Wels-Land district) or three digits and one letter. Since 2000 the vehicle registration have been carried out by car insurance companies on behalf of the government. The branch offices of these companies issue the plates, which show three digits and two letters (e.g. XX ∇ 123 AB) in each district or four digits and two letters in state capitals respectively.

Army, diplomats, police etc. have a number up to five digits only (starting with 1, incrementing) There are standardized abbreviations for special types of cars. But most of them are in use in Vienna only: BB Bundesbahnen (Federal Railways), only with Index "W", e.g. W ∇ 1234 BB BE Bestattung (funeral services) EW E-Werk (electric power company) FF Freiwillige Feuerwehr (volunteer firemen) FW Feuerwehr (firemen) GW Gaswerk (gas power company) GT Gütertransport (vehicles transporting goods) IBK Stadt Innsbruck (municipal vehicles of Innsbruck) KT Kleintransport (private vehicles transporting parcels) LO Linienomnibus (public service buses) LR Landesregierung (Local government of Niederösterreich) LV Landesregierung (Local government of Tyrol) MA Magistrat Wien (Local government of Vienna) MW Mietwagen (private hire car or bus service [with driver]) RD Rettungsdienst (ambulance vehicles) RK Rotes Kreuz (Red Cross) TX Taxi (taxis)

Personalised plates

In Austria, it is possible to obtain a customized registration plate by payment of €228.30 for registration and €21.00 for the plates themselves. An example of a customized plate is XX ∇ ABC 1. In general, the alphanumeric combination that goes after the coat of arms must consist of at least three characters and begin with a letter and end with a number. The letters and numbers must each be grouped together in a block. This makes such plates easily distinguishable from standard ones.

Electric plates

Since 2017, electric plates have been introduced in Austria, These special plates are given only to electric vehicles and were initially associated with exemptions from parking charges in cities such as Vienna, Innsbruck, Klagenfurt, Wels, Linz, Graz, Mödling, Zell am See, Klosterneuburg, and Krems. However, in recent years, some municipalities have revised or discontinued these benefits. For example, as of 2018, electric vehicles are no longer exempt from parking charges in Innsbruck. As regulations may vary by city, drivers should consult local authorities for up-to-date information.

Other plates Export transit plates

Export transit plates are vehicle plates that are issued to vehicles that are being exported, the plate is used for vehicles that need to get to their desired export destination, but are not allowed to use regular licence plates because they have been deregistered abroad. For motor vehicles the cost of an export transit plate is €197.3. The export transit plates are valid for 3 to 21 days.

Temporary plates

Temporary plates are cyan with white lettering, featuring a red strip on the right side showing the year the plate is valid.

Foreign trailer plates

Foreign trailers towed by Austrian prime movers must carry an Austrian license plate covering the foreign one. This plate consists of white lettering on a red background, and the displayed sequence is the same as the one of the tractor. The design changed in 2021 to include the EU strip.

Prefixes

Code City, District and official vehicles Coat of Arms that appears on the plate NotesA Austria (Federal officials) Federal Federal president's plateAM Amstetten Lower Austria B Bregenz Vorarlberg Burgenland (Burgenland state officials) Burgenland BA Bad Aussee (sub-district) Styria Suspended on July 1, 2013; replaced with LI.BB Bundesbahnen (Federal Railways) Federal Obsolete, ÖBB vehicles now use W ∇ XXX BB platesBD Bundesbusdienst (Federal Bus Service) Federal Since 2008 for Postbus coaches only, until 1997 also for ÖBB coachesBG Bundesgendarmerie (Federal gendarmerie) Federal Obsolete since July 2005, when Gendarmerie and police merged BH Bundesheer (Federal Army) Federal BL Bruck an der Leitha Lower Austria BM Bruck-Mürzzuschlag Styria Since 2013. Bruck an der Mur Styria Until 2012.BN Baden Lower Austria BP Bundespolizei (Federal police) Federal Since July 2005 for all new registered police carsBR Braunau am Inn Upper Austria BZ Bludenz Vorarlberg DL Deutschlandsberg Styria DO Dornbirn Vorarlberg E Eisenstadt Burgenland Also for the city of Rust, Burgenland.EF Eferding Upper Austria EU Eisenstadt-Umgebung Burgenland Eisenstadt surrounding areaFB Feldbach Styria Suspended on July 1, 2013; replaced with SO.FE Feldkirchen Carinthia FF Fürstenfeld Styria Suspended on July 1, 2013; replaced with HF.FK Feldkirch Vorarlberg FR Freistadt Upper Austria FV Finanzverwaltung (Financial Administration) Federal since 2005FW Feuerwehr (Fire brigade) Feuerwehr since February 2020G Graz Styria GB Gröbming sub-district Styria GD Gmünd Lower Austria GF Gänserndorf Lower Austria GK Graz, Konsularkorps (Consular corps in Styria) None GM Gmunden Upper Austria GR Grieskirchen Upper Austria GS Güssing Burgenland GU Graz-Umgebung Styria Graz surrounding area.HA Hallein Salzburg HB Hartberg Styria Suspended on July 1, 2013; replaced with HF.HE Hermagor Carinthia HF Hartberg-Fürstenfeld Styria Since July 1, 2013. HL Hollabrunn Lower Austria HO Horn Lower Austria I Innsbruck Tyrol IL Innsbruck-Land Tyrol Innsbruck countryside area.IM Imst Tyrol JE Jennersdorf Burgenland JO St. Johann im Pongau Salzburg JU Judenburg Styria Suspended on July 1, 2012; replaced with MT.JW Justizwache (Justice police) Federal K Klagenfurt Carinthia K Kärnten (Carinthia state officials) Carinthia KB Kitzbühel Tyrol KF Knittelfeld Styria Suspended on July 1, 2012; replaced with MT.KG Klosterneuburg Lower Austria KI Kirchdorf an der Krems Upper Austria KK Kärnten, Konsularkorps (Consular corps in Carinthia) None KL Klagenfurt-Land Carinthia Klagenfurt countryside area.KO Korneuburg Lower Austria KR Krems-Land Lower Austria Krems countryside area.KS Krems Lower Austria Krems City.KU Kufstein Tyrol L Linz Upper Austria LA Landeck Tyrol LB Leibnitz Styria LE Leoben Styria Leoben City.LF Lilienfeld Lower Austria LI Liezen Styria LL Linz-Land Upper Austria Linz countryside area.LN Leoben Styria Leoben countryside area.LZ Lienz Tyrol MA Mattersburg Burgenland MD Mödling Lower Austria ME Melk Lower Austria MI Mistelbach Lower Austria MT Murtal Styria Since July 1, 2012.MU Murau Styria MZ Mürzzuschlag Styria Suspended on July 1, 2012; replaced with BM.N Niederösterreich (Lower Austria state officials) Lower Austria ND Neusiedl am See Burgenland NK Neunkirchen Lower Austria O Oberösterreich (Upper Austria state officials) Upper Austria OP Oberpullendorf Burgenland OW Oberwart Burgenland P St. Pölten Lower Austria PE Perg Upper Austria PL St. Pölten-Land Lower Austria St. Pölten countryside area.PT Österreichische Post (national mail company) Federal Until 1996, for (former national mail and phone company)RA Bad Radkersburg Styria Suspended on July 1, 2013; replaced with SORE Reutte Tyrol RI Ried Upper Austria RO Rohrbach Upper Austria S Salzburg Salzburg Salzburg City. Salzburg (Salzburg state officials) Salzburg SB Scheibbs Lower Austria SD Schärding Upper Austria SD Salzburg, Diplomatisches Korps (Diplomatic corps in Salzburg) None SE Steyr-Land Upper Austria Steyr countryside area.SK Salzburg, Konsularkorps (Consular corps in Salzburg) None SL Salzburg-Umgebung Salzburg Salzburg countryside area.SO Südoststeiermark Styria Since July 1, 2013.SP Spittal an der Drau Carinthia SR Steyr Upper Austria Steyr City.ST Steiermark (Styria state officials) Styria SV St. Veit an der Glan Carinthia SW Schwechat Lower Austria Schwechat City.SZ Schwaz Tyrol T Tirol (Tyrol state officials) Tyrol TA Tamsweg Salzburg TD Tirol, Diplomatisches Korps (Diplomatic corps in Tyrol) None TK Tirol, Konsularkorps (Consular corps in Tyrol) None TU Tulln Lower Austria UU Urfahr-Umgebung Upper Austria V Vorarlberg (Vorarlberg state officials) Vorarlberg VB Vöcklabruck Upper Austria VD Vorarlberg, Diplomatisches Korps (Diplomatic corps in Vorarlberg) None VI Villach Carinthia Villach City. VK Völkermarkt Carinthia Vorarlberg, Konsularkorps (Consular corps in Vorarlberg) None VL Villach-Land Carinthia Villach countryside area.VO Voitsberg Styria W Wien (Vienna) Vienna WB Wiener Neustadt-Land Lower Austria Wiener Neustadt countryside areaWD Wien, Diplomatisches Korps (Diplomatic corps in Vienna) None WK Wien, Konsularkorps (Consular corps in Vienna) None WE Wels Upper Austria Wels CityWL Wels-Land Upper Austria Wels countryside areaWN Wiener Neustadt Lower Austria Wiener Neustadt CityWO Wolfsberg Carinthia WT Waidhofen an der Thaya Lower Austria WU Wien-Umgebung Lower Austria Vienna surrounding area; suspended on January 1, 2017; replaced with BL, KO, PL, TUWY Waidhofen an der Ybbs Lower Austria WZ Weiz Styria ZE Zell am See Salzburg ZT Zwettl Lower Austria ZW Zollwache (Customs officials) Federal Obsolete since 2005 when Zollwache merged with federal police

Armoured Vehicles Codes