Trade sector · July 2026

Massage in Austria

Below-average density and tangible market movement — a favourable combination. Density, 13-month trend and market movement for every federal state and 23 Vienna districts — recomputed monthly.

Free · no signup · Data snapshot July 2026 · updated monthly · CC-BY 4.0

Active locations in Vienna

1,769
8.66 per 10k inhabitants Low Active market
Monthly trend · Vienna · Massage 1,799 1,769 -1.7 %
Mar 25 – Jul 26 · 15 data points · GISA CC-BY 4.0
Annual report (before change) Method jump (not the real market) Monthly report (clean data)
Monthly trend Vienna · Massage: 2,832 active locations in Mar 25, 1,769 in Jul 26, net change minus 1.7 percent. 2,000 2,500 Switch to monthly report Mar 25: 2,832 locations Apr 25: 2,838 locations May 25: 1,799 locations Jun 25: 2,841 locations Jul 25: 1,790 locations Aug 25: 1,790 locations Sep 25: 1,781 locations Oct 25: 1,798 locations Nov 25: 1,803 locations Dec 25: 1,806 locations Jan 26: 1,796 locations Feb 26: 1,789 locations Apr 26: 1,782 locations Jun 26: 1,778 locations Jul 26: 1,769 locations Mar 25 Jun 25 Sep 25 Dec 25 Apr 26 Jul 26

Key figures

Active in Vienna 1,769 8.66 per 10k inhabitants
Austria total 11,768 Vienna share: 15.0 %
Vienna trend since May 2025 -1.7 % Post-break baseline (clean, no method break)
Movement dynamics 115 % Active market

Whitespace: 3 districts with the lowest density

Shortest path to a decision: the three districts with the lowest number of Massage businesses per 10,000 inhabitants — on paper the largest market gaps in Vienna (for population ≥ 20,000).

  1. 1
    1110 Simmering Low
    2.3 per 10k · 26 locations · 112,149 inh. -3.7 % since May 25
  2. 2
    1200 Brigittenau Low
    3.0 per 10k · 26 locations · 86,950 inh. 0.0 % since May 25
  3. 3
    1100 Favoriten Low
    3.4 per 10k · 75 locations · 223,190 inh. -5.1 % since May 25

Note: low density is a signal, not a guarantee. Combine it with the market movement above and the OSM visibility below before you commit.

What does this trajectory tell you?

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.

Insider view: methods, fluctuations, readability notes

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

What you should know about Massage

Commercial massage is a regulated trade under GewO 1994 § 94. The certificate of competence covers 750 teaching units of training plus at least 6 months of relevant practical experience. The training is offered by WIFI, BFI and private masseur academies, among others. The distinction from Heilmassage (a medical-technical profession under the MTD-Gesetz) is essential — Heilmassage for physical complaints is reserved for masseurs who hold the medical-technical services qualification.

In Vienna, around 1,800 trade licences are active, and over 11,700 across Austria. The market has grown noticeably since the pandemic — wellness and preventive massage are more in demand. The OSM map shows a high concentration of mobile and fixed studios, particularly in districts with high population density (Favoriten, Simmering, Ottakring).

Timing — when to start?

Massage is seasonal: autumn and winter see the highest booking numbers (muscle tension, cold-related muscle aches, preventive care before Christmas). The summer months are typically weaker, except in tourism regions. Anyone who registers in spring has time to build up a client base for the winter peak season.

Pitfalls that are often overlooked

  • Confusion with a Heilmasseur

    Advertising with 'therapeutic effect', 'healing' or 'treatment of pain' is prohibited for masseurs, even when the techniques are identical. Only MTD-Heilmasseurs (with separate training) may provide medically indicated massages. A carelessly worded Instagram post can lead to a complaint before the chamber.

  • Hygiene ordinance for premises

    Massage rooms are subject to the hygiene ordinance for relevant services: hand disinfection, fresh towels per client, disinfectable surfaces, and separate sanitary facilities when treating genital or anal areas. Spot checks by the Bezirkshauptmannschaft are common.

  • Mobile masseur bogus self-employment

    Mobile masseurs who work mainly in another provider's studio risk being classified as bogus self-employed. This particularly affects hotel and spa masseurs — here the form of employment should be cleanly clarified in advance (contract for work vs. free service contract vs. employment).

Regulated trade under GewO 1994 § 94 + Masseur-Ausbildungsverordnung. Gewerbeschlüssel 4801. Distinction from Heilmassage: MTD-Gesetz.

Insider analysis · Vienna

What does your competition really look like?

As ofJuly 2026Next snapshot: ~August 1, 2026

The typical active business in Vienna is 10 years old (median). 14 % are younger than 3 years, 20 % older than 20 years. Dominant legal form: 95 % sole proprietors.

How long have they been in the market?

Distribution of age in years across all 1,769 active locations. Median 10 years · P10–P90 2–24 years.

90<1
791-2
832-3
1503-5
2265-8
3238-12
46912-20
28720-30
6230-50
050+

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).

Founding waves

When were the currently active businesses founded?

before 2000
94(5 %)
2000-2009
414(23 %)
2010-2014
323(18 %)
2015-2019
431(24 %)
2020-2026
507(29 %)

Solo (natural person) vs. registered company (GmbH, OG, KG, AG).

Sole proprietors
95 % (1,680)
Legal entity
5 % (89)

Distribution across Vienna postal-code areas

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.

0.18Gini indexvery evenly distributed
23Active postal-code areasin which at least one business is active
21 %Top-3 shareacross 3 postal-code areas combined
  • #11220138 businesses
  • #21030121 businesses
  • #31140106 businesses

Method: Active locations only (legally effective, not dormant). Snapshot 2026-07. Data source: GISA via data.gv.at, CC-BY 4.0.

Honest data limit: The open dataset contains no owner IDs. Who stands behind which business, and whether one owner holds several locations/sectors, cannot be derived from open data alone. The postal-code concentration above is a proxy signal for chain tendencies, not a real ownership analysis.

Complementary signal

What is the market searching for? — Google Trends bridge

Our data shows how many businesses exist. Google Trends adds how often people search for “Massage” — 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.

Market compass · Vienna · Massage compared

Saturation × market movement at a glance

Each dot is a trade sector. Left = lower density per 10,000 residents, top = more movement (registrations and deregistrations over the last 11 months).

Market compass for Vienna · Massage compared 20 trade sectors in Vienna · Massage compared, positioned by density per 10,000 residents (x-axis, logarithmic) and churn index (y-axis). Top-left is the prime zone: undersupplied and active. Density per 10,000 residents → ← Market movement (churn index %) Prime zone undersupplied · active Slots opening saturated · active Stagnant undersupplied · quiet Entrenched saturated · quiet Bäcker: density 0.8/10k · churn 40 % Bäcker Baumeister: density 6.8/10k · churn 128 % Dachdecker: density 0.4/10k · churn 125 % Dachdecker Elektrotechnik: density 8.2/10k · churn 109 % Elektrotechnik Fleischer: density 0.7/10k · churn 66 % Fleischer Berufsfotograf: density 12.6/10k · churn 87 % Berufsfotograf Friseur: density 10.1/10k · churn 49 % Friseur Fußpflege: density 3.2/10k · churn 79 % Fußpflege Gärtner & Florist: density 1.6/10k · churn 106 % Gärtner & Florist Gas- und Sanitärtechnik: density 5.9/10k · churn 102 % Gastgewerbe: density 37.6/10k · churn 30 % Gastgewerbe IT-Dienstleistungen: density 80.5/10k · churn 118 % IT-Dienstleistungen Kosmetik: density 9.6/10k · churn 102 % Lebens- und Sozialberatung: density 17.7/10k · churn 83 % Lebens- und Sozialberatung Massage: density 8.7/10k · churn 115 % Massage Nagelstudio: density 5.7/10k · churn 54 % Nagelstudio Taxi: density 21.2/10k · churn 81 % Taxi Tischler: density 2.7/10k · churn 99 % Tischler Unternehmensberatung: density 52.3/10k · churn 92 % Unternehmensberatung Werbeagentur: density 35.8/10k · churn 113 % Werbeagentur
Active market · growing steadily Growing, volatile Quiet Shrinking

All federal states compared

Density per 10,000 inhabitants plus market dynamics over the last 11 months. Sorted by density, descending.

Federal state Locations per 10k Density Market dynamics net 11 mo
Oberösterreich → 2,749 17.9 Very high Active market +1.1 %
Salzburg → 997 17.4 Very high Active market +1.0 %
Burgenland → 452 15.0 High Active market -0.2 %
Niederösterreich → 2,409 13.9 High Active market +0.3 %
Kärnten → 735 12.9 Medium Growing, volatile +3.7 %
Steiermark → 1,512 11.9 Medium Active market +1.4 %
Tirol → 846 10.9 Low Active market +0.9 %
Wien(here) 1,769 8.7 Low Active market -1.7 %
Vorarlberg → 299 7.3 Low Growing, volatile +3.1 %

Vienna — all 23 districts

Sorted by Massage 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 88 1 16,281 54.0 Very high falling  -3.3 %
1080 Josefstadt 70 3 24,242 28.9 Very high rising  +9.4 %
1070 Neubau 86 7 31,330 27.4 Very high falling  -4.4 %
1060 Mariahilf 85 1 31,083 27.4 Very high rising  +4.9 %
1040 Wieden 70 4 33,444 20.9 Very high rising  +7.7 %
1090 Alsergrund 74 7 41,664 17.8 High falling  -3.9 %
1130 Hietzing 84 3 56,108 15.0 High falling  -5.6 %
1180 Währing 76 2 51,376 14.8 High falling  -1.3 %
1030 Landstraße 121 6 98,881 12.2 High rising  +2.5 %
1140 Penzing 106 5 99,049 10.7 High rising  +1.0 %
1190 Döbling 71 1 76,074 9.3 High unchanged  +0.0 %
1020 Leopoldstadt 104 5 112,675 9.2 Medium rising  +3.0 %
1170 Hernals 52 2 56,767 9.2 Medium falling  -5.5 %
1050 Margareten 46 2 54,581 8.4 Medium falling  -11.5 %
1150 Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus 55 1 75,902 7.3 Medium falling  -11.3 %
1160 Ottakring 74 1 102,727 7.2 Medium falling  -6.3 %
1230 Liesing 85 2 123,714 6.9 Medium falling  -3.4 %
1120 Meidling 64 2 102,393 6.3 Low unchanged  +0.0 %
1220 Donaustadt 138 8 228,158 6.0 Low falling  -0.7 %
1210 Floridsdorf 93 4 189,551 4.9 Low falling  -6.1 %
1100 Favoriten 75 0 223,190 3.4 Low falling  -5.1 %
1200 Brigittenau 26 0 86,950 3.0 Low unchanged  +0.0 %
1110 Simmering 26 0 112,149 2.3 Low falling  -3.7 %

Lic. vs. OSM: GISA also counts mobile or home-based businesses without a shop; OSM shows only those with a visible address. Vienna total: 1,769 licensed vs. ~153 in OSM (67 with postcode, 86 without).

Other trades with a similar market situation

Other trade sectors with active market dynamics in Vienna.

Bäcker 0.8 per 10k · Density low
Dachdecker 0.4 per 10k · Density low
Elektrotechnik 8.2 per 10k · Density low

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers to the typical questions about Massage in Austria.

How many Massage businesses are currently active in Wien?
1,769 active trade licences per the GISA snapshot July 2026. That is 15.0 % of all 11,768 Massage businesses in Austria — or, put differently, 8.66 businesses per 10,000 inhabitants.
Which federal state has the most Massage businesses per capita?
Oberösterreich leads with 17.88 Massage businesses per 10,000 inhabitants. At the other end of the scale sits Vorarlberg with 7.25. The bottom position is, on paper, the biggest market gap — whether that is a real opportunity depends on purchasing power and demand.
Is the market for Massage in Vienna moving?
In the window May 2025 – July 2026 roughly 115 % of the average stock saw movement (registrations and deregistrations), at a net growth of -1.7 %. Classification: active market. High movement means: even when the market looks saturated, slots open up regularly.
Which Vienna districts have the lowest Massage density?
Vienna districts with below-average density per 10,000 inhabitants (only districts with at least 20,000 inhabitants counted): 1110 Simmering (2.3 per 10k), 1200 Brigittenau (3.0 per 10k), 1100 Favoriten (3.4 per 10k). On paper these are the districts with the largest whitespace for a new Massage business.
Which Vienna district has the highest Massage density?
1010 Innere Stadt with 54.05 businesses per 10,000 inhabitants. That usually means strong competition and a tough spot for newcomers. Exception: inner-city districts benefit from commuter and tourism demand, so the per-capita figure understates the real customer base there.
Do I need a master craftsman's certificate for a Massage trade?
That depends on the specific trade code. Free trades (e.g. cosmetics / beauty care) only need a trade registration at the district authority; regulated crafts (e.g. hairdresser, roofer, butcher) additionally require the master craftsman's certificate (Meisterbrief) or an equivalent qualification before you can go self-employed. Details in the glossary and at the WKO.
What does the full market check cost?
This overview — density, 13-month trend, market movement, district data and insider demographics (age, legal form, concentration) — is free and needs no signup, and it stays that way. If you need the figures in writing as a complete report and Excel export plus 12 months of automatic updates, that is what the Pro Report is for: a one-off €49 (SEPA transfer, small-business scheme — no VAT, no subscription).
How is the figure calculated?
The basis is the GISA dataset OgdAufrechteGewerbeberechtigung (data.gv.at, CC-BY 4.0). We count active trade licences with a location in the respective region and the trade code 4801. Density = active businesses ÷ inhabitants × 10,000. Full documentation on Methodology & data sources.

Optional · if you need more

Seen enough? Or do you want it in writing?

Everything you see here stays freely accessible — always current, always verifiable. But if you need these figures for your business plan, the bank or your own bookkeeping, there is the Pro Report: a complete PDF report to save, an Excel export of the raw data, 12 months of automatic updates.

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