Currently, about seven million cars are registered in Austria. Every vehicle has an Austrian number plate, where the first or first two letters are the abbreviation of the respective registration area. We have listed all the abbreviations and the corresponding approval areas for you. We also look at all the special license plates, their abbreviations and meanings.
What do Austrian license plates look like?
Car license plates in Austria consist of black letters on a white background. On the left edge is a blue field with a wreath of EU stars and a white letter A (for Austria), followed by the abbreviation of the registration area, then the coat of arms of the federal state and finally the individual registration mark.
Number plates of vehicles from Lower Austria
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| AM | Amstetten | BH Amstetten |
| BL | Bruck an der Leitha | BH Bruck an der Leitha |
| BN | Baden | Bra bathing |
| GD | Gmünd | BH Gmünd |
| GF | Gänserndorf | BH Gänserndorf |
| HL | Hollabrunn | BH Hollabrunn |
| TO | Horn | BH Horn |
| KG | Klosterneuburg | BH Tulln for the area of the Klosterneuburg municipality (Klosterneuburg branch) |
| IS | Korneuburg | BH Korneuburg |
| NOK | Krems/Country | BH Krems on the Danube |
| KS | Krems an der Donau – city | Magistrate Krems an der Donau |
| LF | Lilienfeld | BH Lilienfeld |
| MD | Mödling | BH Mödling |
| ME | Milk | BH Melk |
| ME | Mistletoe Brook | BH Mistelbach |
| etc | Neunkirchen | BH Neunkirchen |
| P | St. Pölten – city | Lower Austria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of St. Pölten |
| PL | St. Pölten/Land | BH St. Pölten |
| SB | Scheibbs | BH Scheibbs |
| SW | Schwechat | Lower Austria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Schwechat and the parts of Vienna-Schwechat Airport located in the area of the municipalities of Fischamend, Klein-Neusiedl and Schwadorf |
| TU | Tulln | BH Tulln |
| WB | Wiener Neustadt/Country | BH Wiener Neustadt |
| WN | Wiener Neustadt – city | Lower Austria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Wiener Neustadt |
| WT | Waidhofen an der Thaya | BH Waidhofen an der Thaya |
| WE | Waidhofen an der Ybbs | Magistrate Waidhofen an der Ybbs |
| ZT | Zwettl | BH Zwettl |
Number plates of vehicles from Upper Austria
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| BR | Braunau | BH Braunau am Inn |
| IF | Eferding | BH Eferding |
| FR | Freistadt | BH Freistadt |
| GM | Gmunden | BH Gmunden |
| GR | Grieskirchen | BH Grieskirchen |
| TO | Kirchdorf an der Krems | BH Kirchdorf an der Krems |
| L | Linz – city | Upper Austria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Linz |
| LL | Linz/Land | BH Linz-Land |
| ON | Perg | BH Perg |
| RI | Ried in the Innkreis | BH Ried in the Innkreis |
| RO | Rohrbach | BH Rohrbach in the Mühlkreis |
| SD | Schärding | BH Schärding |
| SE | Steyr/Land | BH Steyr-Land |
| SR | Steyr – city | Upper Austria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Steyr |
| UU | Urfahr/environment | BH Urfahr area |
| VB | Vöcklabruck | BH Vöcklabruck |
| WE | Catfish – city | Upper Austria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Wels |
| WL | Catfish/Land | BH Wels |
Vehicle license plates of Styria
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| BM | Bruck-Mürzzuschlag | BH Bruck-Mürzzuschlag |
| DL | Deutschlandsberg | BH Deutschlandsberg |
| G | Graz | Styria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Graz |
| GB | Gröbming | Exp. Gröbming |
| GU | Graz/environment | BH Graz area |
| HF | Hartberg-Fürstenfeld | BH Hartberg-Fürstenfeld |
| LB | Leibnitz | BH Leibnitz |
| THE | Leoben – city | Styria State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Leoben |
| THAT | Liezen | BH Liezen |
| LN | Leoben/environment | BH Leoben |
| MT | Murtal | BH Murtal |
| IN | Regulation | BH Murau |
| SO | Southeast Steiermark | BH Southeast Steiermark |
| VO | Voitsberg | BH Voitsberg |
| WZ | Weiz | BH Weiz |
Number plates of vehicles of Tyrol
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| I | Innsbruck – city | Tyrol State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Innsbruck |
| THE | Innsbruck/Land | BH Innsbruck |
| IN THE | Imst | BH Imst |
| KB | Kitzbühel | BH Kitzbühel |
| KU | Kufstein | BH Kufstein |
| THE | Landeck | BH Landeck |
| LZ | Lienz | BH Lienz |
| RE | Reutte | BH Reutte |
| S | black | Bra black |
Number plates of vehicles of Salzburg
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| HA | Hallein | BH Hallein |
| JO | St. Johann im Pongau | BH St. John |
| S | Salzburg – city | Salzburg State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Salzburg |
| SL | Salzburg/Land | BH Salzburg area |
| TA | Tamsweg | BH Tamsweg |
| SHE | Zell am See | BH Zell am See |
Vehicle license plates of Carinthia
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| FE | Feldkirchen | BH Feldkirchen |
| HE | Hermagor | BH Hermagor |
| K | Klagenfurt – city | Carinthia State Police Directorate for the area of the municipality of Klagenfurt am Wörthersee |
| at | Klagenfurt/Land | BH Klagenfurt |
| SP | Spittal an der Drau | BH Spittal an der Drau |
| SV | St. Veit an der Glan | BH St. Veit an der Glan |
| WE | Villach | Carinthia state police departments for the area of the municipality of Villach |
| VK | Völkermarkt | BH Völkermarkt |
| VL | Villach/Country | BH Villach |
| WHERE | Wolfsberg | BH Wolfsberg |
Number plates of Burgenland vehicles
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| AND | Eisenstadt – city | Burgenland State Police Directorate for the area of the municipalities of Eisenstadt and Rust |
| EU | Eisenstadt/environment | BH Eisenstadt |
| GS | Güssing | BH Güssing |
| IS | Jennersdorf | BH Jennersdorf |
| AND | Mattersburg | BH Mattersburg |
| ND | Neusiedl am See | BH Neusiedl am See |
| ON | Oberpullendorf | BH Oberpullendorf |
| OW | Oberwart | BH Oberwart |
Vorarlberg vehicle number plates
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| B | Bregenz | BH Bregenz |
| BZ | Bludenz | BH Bludenz |
| DO | Dornbirn | BH Dornbirn |
| FK | Feldkirch | BH Feldkirch |
Number plates of vehicles of Vienna
| abbreviation | Approval district | Licensing authority |
| IN | Vienna | Vienna State Police Directorate |
Number plate of an electric car in Austria
Electric cars in Austria receive a license plate with green letters on a white background . The same goes for cars that run on hydrogen.
Since 2017, owners have had the opportunity to use this electronic plate. You can choose between this and a traditional number plate, but you can only enjoy benefits such as exemption from parking fees with an electronic number plate.
Read also: Toll roads in Austria
Special license plates in Austria
Administrative bodies and agencies at the federal and state levels, government agencies, as well as government-related companies and diplomats have special license plates with special abbreviations. By using these special number plates in Austria, they can be assigned accordingly, which plays an important role because the users of these vehicles have special rights.
Special license plates for administrative bodies and institutions in Austria
Vehicles of higher administrative bodies, authorities, state-owned companies and members of the diplomatic staff have separate license plates in Austria. They are divided into federal and state.
The following federal agencies use a special license plate A:
- Federal President
- Chairman of the National Council
- President of the Federal Council
- members of the federal government
- state secretaries
- Members of the Office of the Ombudsman
- Chairman/Vice-President of the Accounting Chamber
- Chairman/Deputy Chairman of the Constitutional Court
- The head/deputy head of the administrative court
- Chairman/Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court
Government bodies such as presidents, members of state governments and members of the state ombudsman’s office use a license plate with the abbreviation of the federal state in question:
- B is for Burgenland
- K is for Carinthia
- N for Lower Austria
- O for Upper Austria
- S for Salzburg
- ST for Styria
- T is for Tyrol
- V for Vorarlberg
- W is for Vienna
Special license plates for authorities and public companies in Austria
Public companies, also known as state-owned companies, are companies that are majority or wholly owned by the government and its subsidiaries. They can be organized according to public or private law.
Abbreviations have the following meanings:
| abbreviation | Value |
| BD | Federal bus service (omnibuses in regular bus services of the Austrian Federal Railways ÖBB or the Post and Telegraph Administration. |
| BH | Federal Army |
| BP | Federal police |
| FV | financial management |
| FW | Fire station |
| JW | Court watch |
| PT | Publish |
Diplomatic license plates in Austria
Diplomatic personnel can be identified by special license plates with certain abbreviations. There are two such abbreviations:
| abbreviation | Value |
| CD | Diplomatic Corps |
| CC | Consular Corps |
The diplomatic corps, or diplomatic corps, is the name of diplomatic representatives of another state. Corps Consulaire or consular corps are the consular officers of the state.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions):
How many license plates are there in Austria?
Currently, about seven million cars are registered in Austria, each of which has an individual number plate. Permitted vehicles are divided into the following types:
- 5.15 million cars
- 553,497 trucks
- 616,447 motorcycles
- 227,048 Mopeds
- 484,529 agricultural and forestry machinery
What is the composition of the Austrian license plate?
From the left edge, a blue field with the letter A and a wreath of EU stars above it. This is followed by an abbreviation of one or two letters that indicate the relevant registration district. Next comes the state coat of arms of the associated federal land, followed by the individual symbol of the reservation.
What does the letter A mean on an Austrian license plate?
The letter A on Austrian license plates stands for Austria or Austria. This abbreviation is based on the ISO 3166 abbreviation, the geographic unit coding issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). He assigns Austria the abbreviation AT or AUT.
What are the distinctive species in Austria?
In Austria, there are different types of license plates with different functions:
- Typical license plates have black writing on a white background and narrow red and white stripes at the top and bottom.
- License plates for electric vehicles have a green inscription on a white background and narrow red and white stripes at the top and bottom.
- There are special number plates for administrative bodies, institutions and authorities at the federal and state levels, as well as for diplomats. They look like typical license plates, but differ primarily in the abbreviation.
- Older number plates (before the introduction of standard number plates in 1990) have a black board with white lettering.
- Customs numbers have a white inscription on a blue background and a red stripe on the right edge. They are awarded to private individuals whose main place of residence is not in Austria.
- Test drive license plates look similar to customs license plates: they have white writing on a blue background, but the red stripe on the right edge is missing. They are used by companies such as garages or car dealers to mark vehicles for test drives.
- The transmission indicators have a white inscription on a light green background. Used when Austrian vehicles are moved abroad or when the vehicle’s actual number plate is lost. The validity period is from three to 21 days.
- Deck number plates have white letters on a red background and are used under certain conditions for trailers or bicycle racks towed by vehicles with Austrian number plates.
What does a green license plate mean in Austria?
A number plate with green letters on a white background is installed on vehicles with an electric or hydrogen engine, but is not mandatory. Users of this license plate receive benefits such as free parking.
License plates with a white inscription on a green background are issued for transitional license plates. It signals that either the Austrian vehicle is being transported abroad or the vehicle has lost its number plate.
Who has a black license plate?
This number plate was installed on Austrian vehicles until 1990 and is no longer issued today. Some vehicle owners still use it today; in 2020, there were about 165,000 of them. Due to low reflectivity and poor readability, it is recommended to replace the old license plate with a new one.