The official language of Austria is German, which is also the lingua franca and the main language used in education, media, and administrative communications. However, there are also several regional linguistic minorities that have been recognized, and some of these languages are also official in certain regions. These languages include:

• Alemannic and Austro-Bavarian: These are the two other major unofficial national languages spoken in Austria. The main native language of Austria outside Vorarlberg is Austro-Bavarian, whose many regionally different dialects are spoken. The north-eastern parts of Austria (with the capital Vienna) speak Central Austro-Bavarian dialects and the southern parts Southern Austro-Bavarian dialects.

• Croatian: This is the official language of the Burgenland region since 1955, with 1.6% of total speakers.

• Slovenian: This is an official language in Austrian Carinthia, and in parts of the Carinthian region, the Slovenian dialect is spoken by nearly 14,000 Austrians.

• Hungarian: This is also recognized as an official language in the Burgenland area (since 1972), although it is used by an increasingly smaller group of people than in the past. It is the most widely spoken second language in Austria, with a percentage of around 2.3% of speakers.

• Serbian: This represents a large linguistic minority, with 2.2% of the population.

Other foreign languages are used in Austria by smaller groups of people, such as Italian, Czech, French, and Spanish. English is also widely spoken in Austria, especially in the big cities, and is taught as the first foreign language at most schools.