The Austrians of Italy

The Austrians of Italy, numbering approximately 272,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a German-speaking Central European ethnonational population whose identity is rooted in the historical territories of Austria and shaped by centuries of Habsburg rule. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Bavarian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Austrian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Germanic
Primary Language(s): Bavarian (bar)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 272,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000314
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Pray for the Austrians of Italy

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

88%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bavarian
Language Family: Indo-European

92%
%
Bavarian Speakers

Media Resources in Bavarian:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Bavarian:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Bavarian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Austrians:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Austrians of Italy

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that those who have not yet received new life will be made alive together with Christ, saved by grace and raised up with Him to newness of life.

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
readPsalm 127:3

Pray that God will bless this generation of children, that they will come to know Jesus early in life and follow Him always.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
readHebrews 10:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live with reverence for God and not deliberately keep sinning after they receive the knowledge of the truth.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
read2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will serve others in Jesus' name, and the lost will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

Austrian, Bavarian Across Countries (ROP3 - 100626) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AustriansAustriansUnited States40,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanUnaffiliated
AustriansAustriansItaly272,000Unengaged and UnreachedBavarianRoman Catholicism
AustriansAustriansCanada23,000Unengaged and UnreachedBavarianRoman Catholicism
AustriansAustriansAustria7,255,000Engaged yet UnreachedGermanRoman Catholicism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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