Trade sector · August 2026
Below-average density and tangible market movement — a favourable combination. Density, 16-month trend and market movement for every federal state and 23 Vienna districts — recomputed monthly.
Active locations in Vienna
Shortest path to a decision: the three districts with the lowest number of Elektrotechnik businesses per 10,000 inhabitants — on paper the largest market gaps in Vienna (for population ≥ 20,000).
Note: low density is a signal, not a guarantee. Combine it with the market movement above and the OSM visibility below before you commit.
The stock is holding steady since May 2025 (post-break baseline) — under 2 % net change. That does not automatically mean “no interest”: if market movement (churn index) is high at the same time, there is active turnover within an overall stable count.
Method change May 2025. Before May 2025 the figures come from the annual report (reference-date based), from May 2025 on from the monthly OgdAufrechteGewerbeberechtigung snapshots. The two sources count slightly differently — hence the visible break between April and May 2025. For the churn indicator we use only the clean May-2025-plus window, so the calculation is not distorted by the method jump.
Seasonal fluctuations. Smaller month-to-month movements are normal — trade licences are issued in bursts (month turns, quarter ends) and deregistered (often at year ends). A single month at +5 or −3 is not a trend break.
What a line does not show. The stock is a stock, not a flow. 500 active trade licences at a steady monthly stock can mean: (a) 500 dormant businesses with no movement, or (b) 480 stable plus 20 deregistering this month and 20 newly registering. The churn indicator measures exactly that difference — the curve does not show it.
Why we don't go back further. The GISA dataset only exists in structured form from 2018, before that only as non-anonymised internal data. Annual reports from 2019 could theoretically be integrated — that is a planned expansion. Currently: monthly snapshots since March 2025.
Context
Electrical engineering is a linked trade (regulated under GewO 1994 § 94). The certificate of competence is obtained in the classic way via the master craftsman examination — alternatively via completion of an HTL in electrical engineering plus 2 years of relevant practical experience, or other equivalent qualifications. The proof is demanding and the barrier to entry high — and that is precisely what protects the market.
In Vienna, around 1,700 active electrical-engineering trade licences are registered, and roughly 11,200 across Austria. The market is shaped by the shortage of skilled workers: there is more work than capacity, and waiting times for end customers range from 4-8 weeks (installations) to 6 months (new builds). The photovoltaic subsidies of 2022-2025 have driven demand up sharply on top of that.
The construction season (March-October) dominates new-build work. Winter is the season for repairs and renovations — heating conversions, smart-home retrofits, photovoltaic planning. Anyone who registers in spring can go straight into the main season.
Electrical engineers are liable under ÖVE/ÖNORM E 8001 and the ETG for proper workmanship. A faulty installation can cause damage to property and persons — personal liability extends 30 years. Liability insurance covering consequential damage (fire, water damage) is de facto indispensable.
Every electrical installation must be signed off with a test report plus a label. Missing or incomplete documentation leads to full liability for the executing professional in the event of later accidents. Digital documentation tools (ElektroBase, installpro) have by now become the industry standard.
For small jobs (swapping a socket, hanging a lamp), licensed electrical engineers compete with cowboy operators. The price difference can be 2-3x. Technically sound businesses should actively communicate the insurance and liability question — the difference is not technical, it is legal.
Regulated trade under GewO 1994 § 94 + Elektrotechnikverordnung. Gewerbeschlüssel 1601 according to GISA. Standards: ÖVE/ÖNORM E 8001, ETG 1992.
Insider analysis · Vienna
The typical active business in Vienna is 13 years old (median). 18 % are younger than 3 years, 37 % older than 20 years. Dominant legal form: 54.5 % registered companies.
Distribution of age in years across all 1,671 active locations. Median 13 years · P10–P90 1–36 years.
Bars = number of businesses per age-year bucket. Highlighted bar = median age. Small buckets under 5 businesses are suppressed as "·" (GDPR minimum cell size against re-identification).
When were the currently active businesses founded?
Solo (natural person) vs. registered company (GmbH, OG, KG, AG).
The higher the Gini index, the more the sector concentrates in a few postal-code areas. 0 = evenly distributed, 1 = everything in a single postal-code area. Vienna has 23 districts, which split into several postal-code areas.
Complementary signal
Our data shows how many businesses exist. Google Trends adds how often people search for “Elektriker” — the demand side. Together you see whether a market is constrained by supply or by demand.
Google Trends is a free third-party tool. We store nothing and pass no data on — the link opens directly on trends.google.com in a new tab.
Each dot is a trade sector. Left = lower density per 10,000 residents, top = more movement (registrations and deregistrations over the last 15 months).
Density per 10,000 inhabitants plus market dynamics over the last 15 months. Sorted by density, descending.
| Federal state | Locations | per 10k | Density | Market dynamics | net 11 mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salzburg → | 960 | 16.7 | Very tight | Active market | +0.2 % |
| Burgenland → | 445 | 14.8 | Very tight | Active market | +1.6 % |
| Niederösterreich → | 2,509 | 14.5 | Getting tight | Active market | +1.4 % |
| Kärnten → | 796 | 14.0 | Getting tight | Growing, volatile | +4.0 % |
| Steiermark → | 1,630 | 12.8 | Some room | Active market | +1.3 % |
| Oberösterreich → | 1,899 | 12.3 | Some room | Active market | +1.8 % |
| Tirol → | 932 | 12.0 | Room to grow | Growing, volatile | +2.6 % |
| Vorarlberg → | 453 | 11.0 | Room to grow | Active market | -0.7 % |
| Wien(here) | 1,671 | 8.2 | Room to grow | Active market | +1.3 % |
Sorted by Elektrotechnik density per 10,000 inhabitants, descending. “Licensed” = GISA trade licences, “OSM” = shop addresses visible in OpenStreetMap, “since May 25” = district net delta post method break (clean signal, without the May-2025 jump).
| Postcode | District | Lic. | OSM | Inh. | per 10k | Density | since May 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1010 | Innere Stadt | 46 | 0 | 15,879 | 29.0 | Very tight | rising +21.1 % |
| 1230 | Liesing | 193 | 2 | 124,846 | 15.5 | Very tight | rising +0.5 % |
| 1160 | Ottakring | 105 | 0 | 101,599 | 10.3 | Very tight | falling -6.3 % |
| 1150 | Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus | 75 | 1 | 75,384 | 9.9 | Very tight | rising +2.7 % |
| 1120 | Meidling | 100 | 2 | 102,344 | 9.8 | Very tight | unchanged +0.0 % |
| 1050 | Margareten | 51 | 1 | 54,060 | 9.4 | Getting tight | rising +13.3 % |
| 1060 | Mariahilf | 27 | 1 | 31,070 | 8.7 | Getting tight | rising +8.0 % |
| 1030 | Landstraße | 85 | 2 | 99,954 | 8.5 | Getting tight | rising +1.2 % |
| 1020 | Leopoldstadt | 95 | 1 | 114,122 | 8.3 | Getting tight | rising +1.1 % |
| 1080 | Josefstadt | 19 | 0 | 24,232 | 7.8 | Getting tight | falling -13.6 % |
| 1110 | Simmering | 88 | 1 | 112,214 | 7.8 | Getting tight | rising +7.3 % |
| 1100 | Favoriten | 176 | 0 | 225,013 | 7.8 | Some room | rising +0.6 % |
| 1040 | Wieden | 26 | 1 | 33,450 | 7.8 | Some room | rising +30.0 % |
| 1070 | Neubau | 24 | 0 | 31,394 | 7.6 | Some room | rising +9.1 % |
| 1140 | Penzing | 70 | 1 | 99,469 | 7.0 | Some room | falling -7.9 % |
| 1220 | Donaustadt | 161 | 4 | 235,361 | 6.8 | Some room | rising +3.2 % |
| 1210 | Floridsdorf | 127 | 4 | 191,527 | 6.6 | Some room | falling -3.8 % |
| 1200 | Brigittenau | 55 | 2 | 86,686 | 6.3 | Room to grow | rising +12.2 % |
| 1170 | Hernals | 34 | 0 | 56,652 | 6.0 | Room to grow | falling -2.9 % |
| 1130 | Hietzing | 33 | 0 | 56,496 | 5.8 | Room to grow | falling -2.9 % |
| 1090 | Alsergrund | 23 | 1 | 41,782 | 5.5 | Room to grow | rising +15.0 % |
| 1190 | Döbling | 39 | 3 | 76,203 | 5.1 | Room to grow | falling -4.9 % |
| 1180 | Währing | 19 | 0 | 51,177 | 3.7 | Room to grow | falling -17.4 % |
Lic. vs. OSM: GISA also counts mobile or home-based businesses without a shop; OSM shows only those with a visible address. Vienna total: 1,671 licensed vs. ~70 in OSM (27 with postcode, 43 without).
Quick answers to the typical questions about Elektrotechnik in Austria.
Free · no account
Everything on this page — density, trend, market movement, demographics, districts — is calculated from open data and stays freely accessible. No account, no paywall, no tracking. The figures are recomputed every month from the GISA snapshot; the method is written down, and so are its limits.