The Department of Demography combines demographic research and teaching in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Vienna. It also serves as the University-based pillar of the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, OeAW, University of Vienna), which holds an international reputation in the field.

Demography is the scientific study of how populations grow, shrink, and evolve over time. It analyses and mathematically models the multiple structures of human populations by age, sex, place of residence, level of education and other key demographic characteristics of individuals. It focuses on fertility, mortality and migration as determinants of population size and structure, and on the mechanisms underlying their change. By linking past, present and future population dynamics to society, the economy and the environment, demography plays an important role in understanding today’s global world changes.