Legislative elections will be held in Austria by 2029 to elect the 29th National Council, the lower house of Austria's bicameral parliament.

Background The 2024 legislative election resulted in the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) becoming the largest party in parliament for the first time. The Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) finished in second place after suffering significant losses and the Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) dropped to third place for the first time in the party's history even though its vote share was almost identical to the 2019 election. NEOS also obtained its best-ever result while the Greens remained in parliament albeit with a reduced seat share. No other party was able to clear the 4% threshold to win seats. It led to a ÖVP-SPÖ-NEOS coalition government with Christian Stocker (ÖVP) as Chancellor.

Electoral system The 183 members of the National Council are elected by open list proportional representation at three levels; a single national constituency, nine constituencies based on the federal states, and 39 regional constituencies. Seats are apportioned to the regional constituencies based on the results of the most recent census. For parties to receive any representation in the National Council, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 4 percent national electoral threshold.

Following the elections, seats are allocated to the candidates of successful parties and lists in a three-stage process, starting with the regional constituencies. Seats are distributed according to the Hare quota in the regional constituencies, and with unallocated seats distributed at the state constituency level. Any remaining seats are then allocated using the D'Hondt method at the federal level, to ensure overall proportionality between a party's national vote share and its share of parliamentary seats.

In addition to voting for a political party, voters may cast three preferential votes for specific candidates of that party, but are not required to do so. These additional votes do not affect the proportional allocation based on the vote for the party or list, but can change the rank order of candidates on a party's lists at the federal, state, and regional level. The threshold to increase the position of a candidate on a federal party list is 7 percent, compared to 10 percent at the state level, and 14 percent at the regional level. The names of candidates on regional party lists are printed on the ballot and can be marked with an "x" to indicate the voter's preference. Preference votes for candidates on party lists at the state and federal level, however, must be written in by the voter, either by writing the name or the rank number of the candidate in a blank spot provided for that purpose.

Opinion polls

Nationwide 2026

Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize Method FPÖ ÖVP SPÖ NEOS Grüne KPÖ Others LeadOGMLate-Sep 2026?Online3721157144216Market-Lazarsfeld14–22 Sep 20262,000Online3821156134317Market-Lazarsfeld7–15 Sep 20262,000Online3722166134215OGM8–10 Sep 20261,012Online3821157134217Market-Lazarsfeld31 Aug–8 Sep 20262,000Online3921147134218Market-Lazarsfeld24 Aug–1 Sep 20262,000Online3921157124218Market-Lazarsfeld17–25 Aug 20262,000Online3822157113416IFDD15–17 Jul 20261,000Online3720157135317INSA13–15 Jul 20261,000Online391918784520Market-Lazarsfeld29 Jun–7 Jul 20262,000Online3719168124418Unique Research15–18 Jun 2026819Online + Phone3622189114014Market-Lazarsfeld15–16 Jun 20262,000Online3820187123218Market-Lazarsfeld1–9 Jun 20262,000Online3818188123320Market-Lazarsfeld22 May–2 Jun 20262,000Online3720178122417Market-Lazarsfeld22–26 May 20262,000Online3821188103217OGM27 Apr–20 May 20263,017Online3720168134217Market-Lazarsfeld18–19 May 20262,000Online3721188113216Market-Lazarsfeld11–12 May 20262,000Online3820187113318INSA13–16 Apr 20261,000Online3819197104319Market-Lazarsfeld13–14 Apr 20262,000Online3820187113318Market-Lazarsfeld6–7 Apr 20262,000Online3718197114418Market-Lazarsfeld30–31 Mar 20262,000Online3618198113517Unique Research19–26 Mar 2026821Online + Phone3522189114113Market-Lazarsfeld23–24 Mar 20262,000Online3621187113415Market-Lazarsfeld16–17 Mar 20262,000Online372018794517INSA23–25 Feb 20261,000Online381919793519Market-Lazarsfeld23–24 Feb 20262,000Online3622169103414OGMMid-Feb 2026?Online352118????14Market-Lazarsfeld16–17 Feb 20262,000Online372017894517IFDD11–17 Feb 20262,600Online3522189114113Market-Lazarsfeld9–10 Feb 20262,000Online362119795315Market-Lazarsfeld2–3 Feb 20262,000Online352418893311INSA12–14 Jan 20261,000Online372020893317Market-Lazarsfeld12–14 Jan 20262,000Online3521189103414Market-Lazarsfeld5–7 Jan 20262,000Online3619189114317IFDD2–5 Jan 20261,509Online3620189114216 2024 legislative election 29 Sep 2024 – – 28.8 26.3 21.1 9.1 8.2 2.4 4.0 2.5

2025

Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize Method FPÖ ÖVP SPÖ NEOS Grüne KPÖ Others LeadMarket-Lazarsfeld8–9 Dec 20252,000Online3818189113320Market-Lazarsfeld17–18 Nov 20252,000Online3819189112319Market-Lazarsfeld3–4 Nov 20252,000Online3720188103417IFDD17–21 Oct 20251,215Online3621179114215Market-Lazarsfeld13–14 Oct 20252,000Online3821177114217Market-Lazarsfeld6–7 Oct 20252,000Online3820178104318Market-Lazarsfeld15–16 Sep 20252,000Online3621188113315IFDD10–12 Sep 20251,500Online36211810113115OGM9–11 Sep 20251,027Online33231910113110Market-Lazarsfeld8–9 Sep 20252,000Online3621188113315OGMEarly Sep 2025?Online3322191011–511Market-Lazarsfeld1–2 Sep 20252,000Online3621199102315INSA15–27 Aug 20251,000Online371920994217Market24–30 Jul 2025810Online + CAPI3522201093113INSA14–17 Jul 20251,000Online3719209104117IFDD6–7 Jun 20251,250Online3224191011318Unique Research2–5 Jun 2025800Online + Phone3123191310318Market28 May–3 Jun 2025824Online + CAPI34212010103213Market-Lazarsfeld26–27 May 20252,000Online3420219103313OGM23–26 May 20251,011Online322221129–410INSA19–21 May 20251,000Online362020894216Market-Lazarsfeld5–13 May 20252,000Online342221993212Market-Lazarsfeld28 Apr–6 May 20252,000Online3321211093312Market-Lazarsfeld18–29 Apr 20252,000Online3322211092311Market-Lazarsfeld14–22 Apr 20252,000Online3422201093212INSA14–16 Apr 20251,000Online342022993312Market-Lazarsfeld14–15 Apr 20252,000Online3421201093313Market-Lazarsfeld7–15 Apr 20252,000Online3421201093313OGM4–9 Apr 20251,042Online322321119229Market-Lazarsfeld31 Mar–8 Apr 20252,000Online3321211083412Market-Lazarsfeld24 Mar–1 Apr 20252,000Online3421201083413Market-Lazarsfeld17–25 Mar 20252,000Online3421201192313Market-Lazarsfeld17–18 Mar 20252,000Online3322211282211Market-Lazarsfeld3–11 Mar 20252,000Online3321211193212Market5–7 Mar 2025829Online + CAPI3221211293211Market-Lazarsfeld24 Feb–4 Mar 20252,000Online3420211193213INSA24–26 Feb 20251,000Online34202399–511Market-Lazarsfeld24–25 Feb 20252,000Online3519211193214OGM17–18 Feb 2025941Online34192113102113Market-Lazarsfeld17–18 Feb 20252,000Online34182211103212IFDD13–15 Feb 20251,250Online33192211103211Spectra13–14 Feb 20251,001Online3519221093313Market-Lazarsfeld10–11 Feb 20252,000Online33192310103210Market-Lazarsfeld3–4 Feb 20252,000Online3419229103312Market-Lazarsfeld27–28 Jan 20252,000Online3419221093312Market-Lazarsfeld13–21 Jan 20252,000Online3518211293214INSA13–15 Jan 20251,000Online352020118–615Market-Lazarsfeld13–14 Jan 20252,000Online3817191293219Market-Lazarsfeld7–8 Jan 20251,000Online39171910103220IFDD3–4 Jan 20251,250Online3721191183116 2024 legislative election 29 Sep 2024 – – 28.8 26.3 21.1 9.1 8.2 2.4 4.0 2.5

2024

Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize Method FPÖ ÖVP SPÖ NEOS Grüne KPÖ Others LeadIFDD17–18 Dec 20241,250Online3721201083116Market-Lazarsfeld16–17 Dec 20242,000Online3620191083416Market13–17 Dec 2024809Online + CAPI3522201083213Market-Lazarsfeld9–10 Dec 20242,000Online3621191083315Unique Research2–4 Dec 2024800Online + Phone3520211282214INSA2–4 Dec 20241,004Online342120983513Market-Lazarsfeld2–3 Dec 20242,000Online3520191184315Market-Lazarsfeld25–26 Nov 20242,000Online3321191184412OGM25–26 Nov 20241,018Online322420127–58Market-Lazarsfeld18–19 Nov 20242,000Online322320108349INSA11–13 Nov 20241,000Online322221982610Market-Lazarsfeld11–12 Nov 20242,000Online332321983310Market-Lazarsfeld4–5 Nov 20242,000Online342321983211Market-Lazarsfeld28–29 Oct 20242,000Online3323211083210 OGM 25–28 Oct 2024 1,008 Online 32 25 20 10 8 2 3 7Market-Lazarsfeld21–22 Oct 20242,000Online33231911842 10Market-Lazarsfeld14–15 Oct 20242,000Online32251910833 7 Market-Lazarsfeld 7–8 Oct 2024 2,000 Online 33 26 19 10 7 2 3 7 Market-Lazarsfeld 30 Sep – 1 Oct 2024 2,000 Online 30 25 20 11 8 2 4 5 2024 legislative election 29 Sep 2024 – – 28.8 26.3 21.1 9.1 8.2 2.4 4.0 2.5

By state Vienna

Polling firm Fieldwork date Samplesize Method SPÖ FPÖ ÖVP Grüne NEOS KPÖ Others LeadIFDD21–24 Apr 20261,017Online2627131712411 2024 legislative election in Vienna 29 Sep 2024 – – 29.9 20.7 17.4 12.3 11.4 3.8 4.5 9.2

For the first time ever in the history of Austrian legislative elections, the SPÖ only ranked second in Vienna according to the April 2026 poll by IFDD for the Kronen Zeitung.

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